My Brother the Silverback
by Sorcerer Swordsman
Summary: When Logan's long-lost brother shows up to the mansion and is kidnapped, the X-Men go to rescue him. But a more sinister plan is at work, one which will involve Logan and all the X-Men... Finished!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story except Silverback. The X-Men are creations    of Marvel Comics, not me, but Silverback is mine!

It was a dark and stormy night. It was a bit cliché, but very true. The clouds were dark and black in Westchester, New York, and lightning was becoming a common occurrence to the lone man who wandered the dirt path in front of him. He could see a large building ahead of him that kind of looked like a mansion, maybe a prep school. It was likely that it was what he was looking for.

The man was short, but very muscular. He only stood about 5'10, but his muscles kept smart alecks from talking bad about him. He wore only a black shirt and trench coat, and a pair of Wranglers. He had no shoes. He needed no shoes. He was on a mission, and he planned to complete it at the large mansion ahead of him. His icy blue eyes hardened at a noise behind him.

He whirled around in time to see an enormous wolf leap onto him with unequaled speed, baring its fangs. The man threw the beast with his bare hands into a nearby tree. The dazed wolf charged forward again, but the man gave a cry. A cry of death, a cry of pain. The cry of Silverback.

Ten seconds later, the wolf lay dead, and the man continued on his path to the building.

Inside the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Wolverine sipped a beer and watched an Indiana Jones tape. All the kids were sleeping, and he wasn't tired. All they'd had to do that day was a couple of Danger Room sessions, nothing too challenging. No bug-eyed aliens, no killer mutants, no alien entities possessing a classmate. Just Danger Room sessions.

He continued his movie and beverage until the part where Indy was about to get run over by a boulder, when suddenly, he heard a noise outside the house. "Great," he muttered. "They always wait till it's to the good part." He let his claws come out, and stepped out the door. If there was a prowler, he'd have to get past Wolverine.

He circled around the door, and when he was at one window, saw a shadow. So, he thought, there is somebody out here. Well, they'd have to deal with the Wolverine's claws. He silently moved to the shadow, but still saw no person.

Suddenly, he whirled around long enough for his claws to nab the prowler's ear. Blood flowed down, and the man's face went livid with fright. "All right, bub," said Wolverine, "What were ya here for? Tell me and I won't go for the nose."

The prowler's face suddenly relaxed, and he gave Logan a solid punch to the mouth. The claws came right out of his ear, and a surprised Wolverine fell to the ground. The prowler held up his hand in a motion of peace to Wolverine. Logan sheathed his claws uneasily, his face still twisted in rage, to listen to the stranger.

"Really, Logan, this is no way for you to treat one like me!"

"Sorry, bub, I'm out of the milk n' cookies!"

"Logan, Logan, always the joker! Don't you recognize an old friend. Or a brother…?"

Logan's face contorted into an expression of confusion. "What're you talkin' about, mister? I ain't got time for games!"

"Really, Logan, don't you recognize your sibling? Sorry, Logan, but you're not as unique as you'd like to believe. Say hello to your brother, Greg. Or, since I'm a mutant like you, you can call me Silverback!"

Next chapter up really soon!


	2. The Monster Within

            Wolverine's face contorted into one of shock and rage. "And what's supposed to make me believe that I'm related to you, _bub_?", he said emphasizing the _bub._

            "Do me a favor, o brother of mine, scratch me with your claws on the hand."

            Wolverine smiled eagerly. "It'll be a pleasure!" He brought down his claws hard on Silverback's hand and watched the blood squirt out in little bursts, occasionally trickling through his fingers.

            Silverback gave a smile of provocation. "Is that all you have, Logan? I thought you could do better than that with those things," he pointed to the adamantium claws, "than that! Come on, Logan! Gut me right arm, destroy a vein or two. I won't mind!"

            Wolverine did the stranger's bidding happily, not caring much for his cheery attitude. With a quick swipe, blood was speedily rushing from the arm of the intruder Silverback.

            "All right, now Logan, stand back and watch the magic!"

            Logan stepped back, his claws still ready for any funny business, and watched his so-called brother's show. Silverback touched his arm softly with his hand, right on the bleeding spot, and gave a look of soothing. Suddenly, the slit of blood began to slow down, until nothing was there at all! Then, the skin itself began to patch itself up, regrowing the lost skin.

            Next, Silverback brought the same hand onto his wounded one, and the same happened. A soothing look, the stop of flowing blood, and the regrowth of skin. Logan was dumbfounded for the first time in his life. There was no question about it… Silverback had a healing factor!

            Logan stepped forward slowly, sheathing his claws. "Y-you have a healing factor?"

            Silverback smiled. "Why of course, Logan! How could I not be and still be your brother? But wait, that's not all I have to show you! Now, a demonstrating of mutant power number 2!"

            Silverback suddenly began to change form rapidly. He went from a human to something… else. His body became laden with black fur, and his teeth became saber-toothed, white fangs with lethal points on their ends. His eyes went from their normal gray to deadly pools of red blood, the pupils yellow as a cat's. His fingernails grew sharper and longer into claws. His clothes suddenly ripped out from him, with the exception only of his pants, and his entire body was clearly covered in the black, mottled fur that had begun his transformation. His muscles grew larger in both arms and legs, and he grew to eight feet tall from his original six. All was black for him… except for a silver line on his back that ran all the way from his head. The mark of Silverback.

            "This," he growled in a voice twice as deep as Greg's, "is Silverback."

            "Greg," said Logan quietly, stepping forward, sharing his brother's pain. "We need to talk, Greg."

            "Agreed," said the monster that had once been Greg Williams. "Let's go into the house, Logan."

            "Not on my life!" shouted the voice of Cyclops, running from the mansion's side. He shot out a bright bolt of red light powerfully at the black creature before him, injuring it in the right arm, the same one that had just been mended.

            Silverback gave a roar of pain and charged forward like the animal he had become, his claw raised in fury. He leapt onto the unwary Cyclops ferociously, and swiped the X-man's chest with his claws. Bright red blood trickled down Scott's upper body in a crescent shape.

            Cyclops gave a shout and fired an optic beam, sending Silverback backwards into his brother. Cyclops got up speedily and came in fists swinging to the monster, landing a solid left hook before being sent back himself by a powerful punch from Silverback.

Wolverine stood in a panic, not knowing whom he wanted to win: his brother, or his leader. He popped out his claws and jumped into the fray with them. "I always liked a good fight, anyway!" he thought as he kicked his brother and punched his friend.

Cyclops shouted, "Logan, get out of this! You're hurting me too!"

"That's the point, one-eye!" said Wolverine, cutting Scott's leg.

"Then you give me no choice, Logan!"

Cyclops let loose a huge optic blast right at his friend, keeping Silverback away from both. Logan had no time to move away from the shot, and braced himself for the pain. It never came.

The blast was stopped in mid-air, flickering there like so much dead weight. Scott touched his visor as though there was some malfunction, his eyes questioning. Wolverine was the first to understand. "Jeanie."

"You'd better believe it, Logan," said the red-head, stepping right next to Scott. "Scott, what the heck do you think you were doing? Attacking Logan!?!"

"He got me first," Scott whimpered.

"You sound like a 2-year old, Scott Summers! Now, give me an explanation I _like, or you'll be sorry," she pointed to her psychic head._

Silverback stepped forward. "This is my fault, miss."

Jean's face took on a look of shock for a minute at the sight of Silverback, but quickly recovered. "O-oh? How so??"

"Your---"

"Husband."

"---husband attacked me when he saw me getting too close to Logan, probably thinking I was an intruder, and I doubt that the sight of Logan's unsheathed claws helped matters, so he came in blasting. Later, Logan decided for reasons unknown to me to jump in."

"But _why_ were you here in the first place!?!"

Silverback underwent a speedy transformation much faster than last time, this one back into Greg. "Oh, that's easy. You see, I'm Logan's brother!"

   
     


	3. Betrayal

            "Tea or coffee, Greg?" called Jean from the kitchen. Greg, Scott, and Logan were all sitting in the Professor's old study, with Jean's seat open for her as soon as drinks were served.

            "Coffee, black, um, Ms., Miss, Mrs.…."

            "Jean Summers. Coffee's on its way boys!"

            Turning to Cyclops, Greg awkwardly asked, "Um, and what is your name, my victim and attacker?"

            Scott let out a sigh of impatience. "Scott Summers. Y'know, I like you a lot better when you're a werewolf. You seem to be a lot less… cheeky."

Greg shrugged. "Well, being a monster tends to make you take life just a _bit_ more seriously than you might otherwise. So are you related to Ms. Summers by any chance?"

            "Married happily for 4 years, thank you."

            "Shoot," muttered Greg. "Some people have all the luck!"

            Scott gave a chuckle. "Trust me, there are parts of Jean that no man deserves to have to face!"

            "I heard that, lover! I'm making your drink, so you might want to be nice to me until it's served!"

            "She would be one to poison it, too!" whispered Scott to Greg.

            "I can read your thoughts, stupid! Come make your own drink if you're going to be a pain in the butt!"

            "Yes, dear," consented Scott, climbing up out of his comfy vinyl chair.

            Soon, Jean and Scott came in with everyone's drinks: black coffee, tea, a Coke, and for Wolverine, a Bud Light.

            Once everyone had taken their satisfying gulp from their beverage, Logan began. "Okay Greg, where'd you come here from, are you really my brother, and why don't you drink beer like any brother of mine would?"

            The last got a chuckle out of Greg, but he began his story. "Well, brother of mine, I came from our home of London, Englan-"

            "Hold it! I'm a Brit?"

            "Half. The other half is American, which is probably why I don't have the customary accent. You see, since our British mother is dead-"

            "Say what? My mom's dead?"

            "If you'll quit interrupting me, Logan, you'll find out all you want to know and some stuff you don't want to know. So shut up and listen.

            "As I was saying, I came here from London, England, where I had been living alone since the death of my abusive father at the age of 43. I was 15 when it happened. As I recall, he was well loved enough for there to be about three people attending. I wasn't one of them.

            "So you'll know, Logan, our father was the scum of the earth. He stole for his food, and gave us the scraps. Occasionally. You were the smart one, running away when you had the chance. Lucky you, winding up on that farm in America with semi-loving parents and a lady love to keep you occupied. Don't look so surprised! You didn't really believe that you were born there, did you?

            "Anyway, when daddy dearest died of lung cancer (oh, didn't I tell you, he smoked four packs of Camel a day!), I was on my own. I couldn't have been happier. For once, when the bruises papa gave me faded away, I didn't have to expect new ones the next day. The civil services never learned that I, a 15 year-old, was living by myself, and they only had three years, so pretty soon, I was 18, a high school dropout, with no hope of getting an enjoyable job, so I went the route of dad. I stole for my food. I was good at it, too, let me tell you.

            "Eventually, I decided to seek out the brother I knew I had. So, now I'm here to tell you the most important thing you'll ever hear. But first, um, can I please use your restroom?"

            A collective sigh of impatience echoed through the room before Scott said, "First door on the right from the kitchen's entrance."

            Greg got up eagerly and left the room at a run, looking like he'd burst any moment now.

            Scott began. "Okay X-Men, do you guys find his story convincing?"

            Everyone gave a nod.

            "Me and you both. This guy is either the best story-teller in the world, or Wolverine has a brother. I'm inclined to go with the latter. Logan, what do you think about all this?"

            Logan pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Well Scottie, I've been an orphan, only child, and all 'round tramp since I can remember. So all's I'm sayin' is that it's gonna take some more proof before I welcome this guy in as my brother."

            Suddenly, a scream erupted from the restroom, followed by a roar of pain.

            Scott was up first. "Let's go!"

            They arrived and saw Nightcrawler desperately clawing at Silverback, and fur was flying both ways. Everyone was taken aback.

            "Uh, boss…" said Logan. "Who do we gun for?"

            Scott, looking as confused as Wolverine, answered. Just punch whatever you lay your hands on, Logan. Jean, try to get a hold on one of them. Let's move!"

            Cyclops fired a concussion beam at Silverback, but the beast whirled around and the force knocked Nightcrawler off the monster to the ground.

            Wolverine came in hard with a punch to the blue one's stomach, and he could practically hear the wind being blown out fast.

            Cyclops next went for Silverback, knocking him with beam after beam, but to no avail. Totally lost in rage, Silverback swung his arm around and knocked Scott into the next room with brute strength.

            Suddenly, he gave a howl of pain. Jean was mentally disabling him, and he had no idea how to react. He put his hands to his head and screamed, roaring in confusion and hurt. 

            Taking advantage of his fall, Nightcrawler leapt upon the wolf-like creature and teleported away. There was total silence in the room, and Scott staggered in. "Where's Silverback?" he muttered through clenched teeth.

            "The misfit poofed him away. Who knows?" said Logan.

            As though no time had gone by, Nightcrawler appeared once again.

            Scott hit him directly with an optic beam, sending the mutant into the wall.

            Wolverine ran up and grabbed Kurt by the neck, pounding his head against the wall. "Okay misfit, where's the big werewolf you just teleported away?!"

            Kurt's eyes went big and began to slowly droop into unconsciousness, leaving only one word. "Mesmero…"

Sorry to leave you hanging like that, but I was getting tired and this'll give me something to write for next chapter. Writer's block has been conquered yet again. Hurray!!!!!!

  
   


	4. The Mission Begins

Nightcrawler woke up to see Logan, Scott, and Jean standing over him. "H-hi guys! Um, vhat just happened?"

Logan suddenly grabbed him by the cuff of his red uniform. "OK elf, where'd you just teleport the werewolf you had on your back, and what'd Mesmero have to do with it? Talk!"

A look of recognition suddenly dawned on Nightcrawler's face. "Mesmero vas controlling me somehow! He must have some kind of machine zat can make him use his hypnotic powers from long ranges. It is all so blurry in my mind!"

"_Where is Silverback!?!"_

"I--- do not know, Logan. That is blocked from my mind. All I know is zat Mesmero hypnotized me into teleporting your friend to his lair. Then he 'ported me back and wiped my memory of his location."

Logan released the blue demon and let him fall to the floor. "I'm gonna go get that guy if it's the last thing I do!" he muttered gruffly. He turned one last time. "You sure that you don't remember anything else, Kurt?"

Kurt began to shake his head, but gave a sudden pause. "Vait! I remember--- mountains. Snow-capped mountains vith no civilization for miles. Yes! Yes, there were mountains!"

"Tibet!!!" shouted Scott. "Mesmeros' using his old hideout in Tibet! We should have known from the start!"

Logan gave a grin. "Yeah, that makes sense! I think you actually have somethin' there, Summers!" He muttered under his breath, "There's a first time for everything!"

"Jean, go wake everyone up. I don't care if it's 4:00 in the morning, we've got a crisis on our hands, and one of our old enemies is behind it. We need every available X-Man. The rest of you, get on your uniforms. We've got a mission."

The X-Men showed up ready for their mission, with quite a few sleepy and baggy eyes accompanying them.

Wolverine, clad in his brown and black costume, eagerly awaiting the trip.

Jean, in her old Phoenix attire. She always had liked that uniform better than her Marvel Girl one.

Cyclops, with his blue suit that let his hair show, with the seatbelt-like X strap across his chest and right shoulder, his visor red and blazing over his eyes.

Storm in her classic black, caped costume.

Beast, blue and fuzzy as always.

And finally, the visiting Angel, clad in his red and white suit.

Scott briefed them. "Alright team, I know it's early, and I really don't care. Early this morning, a mutant by the name of Silverback showed up claiming to be Logan's long-lost brother. Jean and I joined them later and we all talked for a while about Logan and Silverback's past. However, we were interrupted when a mind-possessed Nightcrawler was mind-controlled by Mesmero's hypnotic powers. He managed to get a hold of Silverback and teleport him to a base that we believe is in the mountains of Tibet. Any questions?

Storm spoke up first. "Scott, do we know yet if Mesmero is working alone?"

"For all we know he could be working with the Boy Scouts."

Beast was next. "What powers does Silverback have?"

"Close to yours. He turns into a virtual werewolf, with the strength of three men and the speed of two."

Silence filled the air. "Any more questions?"

Silence. "Good. Let's go!"

The X-Men quickly boarded the Blackbird in a single file, with Scott in the pilot's seat and Logan as co-pilot.

After about thirty minutes of flying, Scott spoke up. "Logan, do you really believe that Greg's your brother?"

Logan looked out the window in reluctance, but answered. "Somebody told me once that it's okay to dream impossible dreams, but if somebody promises that they can make 'em come true, that's when you run. But this time, Silvie ran first."

"So I guess that's a no?"

"That's a 'I wish, but I don't expect.'"

"Logan, we've been fri---, um, teammates for a long time. I want the truth. Did you want the entire group to go get Silverback with you?"

"Summers, if that guy's my brother, I want anybody around to support me."

"So you're finally admitting it, huh?"

"Admitting what?"

"That you work better as an X-Man than a loner."

Logan put on a dangerous frown. "Summers, the day I admit that is the day I die."

Silence broke out throughout the cockpit, until suddenly…

"Logan, do you see that!?!"

A chain saw was to hurtling at the Blackbird at impossible speed! It's spiked tips were whirring around at deadly speed, and its round base was detached from the handle. Suddenly, Scott could see two more come straight forward.

"Logan, take evasive action!!! We're under attack!!!"

But it was too late. One disk came crashing through the glass windshield, shattering it instantly. Logan immediately acted on instinct, slicing the disk in two with a swipe of his claws. It fell harmlessly to the floor, but he could hear another coming.

Scott shouted, "Logan! Get back inside here! Now!!!" but the Wolverine was beyond hearing him. He leapt totally out of the plane, slicing the second disk in half in midair. He landed on the plane's wing, and could feel himself dangling there dangerously. He struggled and wormed himself up to the top of the plane, standing up carefully to get a good view of the third chain saw. He felt it go through his back, just as he felt his healing factor kick in immediately. "Okay," he thought. "Now I'm mad!"

With a cry of rage, he leapt onto the third disk, and felt its serrated edges go through his skin. He tumbled down with blood all over him, and the disk digging into himself. He felt no pain, and his healing factor continued to work its wonders. He pulled the saw out of his stomach with effort and threw it to the ground with force, right before he himself landed face first on ground. The disk sat dormant, and his healing factor had cleaned all but the blood on his costume. He looked at his surroundings and discovered that he was in a forest. Looking up, he could no longer see the Blackbird. Scott must not have been able to stop in time.

He was stranded.     


	5. Mind Wrestling

            Up in the Blackbird, Scott was furious. Logan, the whole reason for this mission, had not only nearly killed himself, but had separated himself from the team. Who knew where he was now?! He was nearly as angry at himself for not stopping him. All it would have taken was a low-power optic blast and Wolverine would be slumped against his seat right now instead of somewhere in the woods below them.

            He punched the button on the intercom. "Jean, I need you in the cockpit. Now."

            Jean appeared quickly in front of the sliding metal door. "What do you need Sco--- um, Scott, where's Logan?"

            "That's what I needed to tell, honey. You're my copilot now. Logan's… somewhere else right now."

            Jean gave a gasp. "He didn't fly out of the plane, did he? Hitting the ground that hard might even kill _him_!"

            Scott nodded. "I know. Try and see if you can sense him."

            Jean gave a nod and began to focus. Scott could feel the energy flowing from her mind. Suddenly she gave a cry of pain and slumped down to the floor.

            "JEAN!!!" shouted Scott. "Jean! Are you okay???"

            Scott shook her unconscious form and suddenly began to hear her muttering.

            "M-Mesmero; I-I won't! I won't hurt Scott! Y-you- aren't-strong-enough!"

            Scott suddenly understood. Mesmero was trying to take over Jean. "Fight it Jean! Fight it! Mesmero can't beat you, honey! Beat him!"

            Jean gave another cry of suffering. "Get out my head!!!!!!!!" she shrieked. A wave of psychic energy suddenly seemed to fly out of her, and the entire jet gave a violent rock to the right. Jean's eyes opened suddenly, like a lamp being turned on. "Scott!!! Turn the jet around! Mesmero's trying to get Wolverine!!!"

            Logan sat under the shade of a large oak tree to let his healing factor finish its slower process on his bones. He'd taken a big fall, and he knew it. He felt like resting, just resting under its shadow. Just resting…

            Logan!!! shouted a voice inside his head.

            Je-Jeanie? What'd you wake me up for?

            Don't fall asleep, Logan! It's what Mesmero wants! He's trying to control your mind from Tibet like he did with Kurt. You have to try and find us so we can get to him. He's planted some sort of block in my mind. I can't track you, so you'll have to find us. Listen, Logan! Don't fall asleep!

            O-okay. Whatever you say, red.

            However, Logan felt something in his subconscious telling him: "Logan, you're so tired. You need to sleep. Sleep, Logan, sleep."

            "I do need to sleep," thought Logan. "I don't remember ever being so tired in my life."

            "Sleep… sleep…"

            "Yeah, that sounds good to me…"

            "Sleep…"

            Suddenly, Logan's voice became harsher, more awake. "You know, Mesmero, I know that's you."

            He felt his subconscious cringe.

            "But ya know what? I think I'll follow you anyway---"

            Mesmero gave a leap of joy in his mind.

            "---to Hell and back, you sonofa!"

            And with that, Logan got up to go look for his friends.


	6. Mind Hunting Season

            Mesmero's plans were failing fast. If the Wolverine continued to show such mental power, and if he stayed allied with Jean Gray, there would be no way for him to stop them. He still suffered from the mental duel he had fought against the Gray woman.

            A thought struck his mind: what if his powers were slowing down. There had once been a time when he could easily control mutant and human minds alike, but now… 0 for 2? He needed another test, if not for himself, then for the X-Men. He needed Cyclops.

            So, focusing his mind on the always-brooding leader, he began to control the mind of Scott Summers.

            In the cockpit of the Blackbird, everything was going smoothly… with the obvious exception that Logan was nowhere to be found. If there was only somewhere to land their jet…! But no, the forest was much too thick, and if they tried to land, the Blackbird would be so broken down by weather and animals that it probably wouldn't take off again.

            Scott was calmly flying slowly, looking in every direction for his teammate. Jean remained his copilot, still attempting to break through the mental barrier that prevented her from discovering where Logan was. The remaining X-Men were all still in the back, with no real idea of what was going on.

            Suddenly, Scott clutched at his head and gave a roar of pain, sliding down to the floor. "Mesmero!!!" he shouted in accusation. Jean immediately went into action, grabbing the piloting equipment. As much as she wanted to help her husband, crashing the plane would not help him any more. Scott writhed on the ground, dueling insanely with the X-Men's hated foe, screaming and shouting. Suddenly, he gave a cry: "NO!!!! Not my eyes!! Don't use the visor, Mesmero!!! Noooo!!!" His hand went to his visor and pressed the button. A beam of red energy hit his wife in the chest, and she slumped down into unconsciousness. A wave of mental energy flew from the mind of Scott Summers, for Mesmero had made his biggest mistake. He had hurt the one Scott loved, and love was the one emotion Mesmero had no control over. Scott gave a triumphant roar, and Mesmero left his mind.

            He set to work continuing the flight of the Blackbird and administering to Jean.

             In the forests of Tibet, Wolverine was growing angry. Why hadn't Summers found him yet? Had they gone on without him? What was going on?

            To ease his troubled mind, he went hunting for deer. Hunting had always been a nice pastime before he joined the X-Men. Plenty of deer in Canada, a lot less in Wenchester. But knowing the climate of Tibet compared to Canada, and noticing all the similarities, he would be one very surprised Wolverine if there weren't any here.

            He crept into the brush behind him and waited silently for his prey to come. He didn't blend in very well, but through countless Danger Room sessions, he had grown quite good at contracting his body into all sorts of strange positions, so he was at ground level with no costume showing above or behind the bush at all. His first deer came about ten minutes later. He unsheathed his claws in anticipation, but as it came closer, he saw no antlers. There would be other deer, and he wasn't going to kill a female.

            He waited a little longer, listening for the sound of footsteps or running, until finally, he could hear a deer running full speed past him. As it grew nearer, he saw the enormous antlers of a buck and dove out from his hiding place, claws out, and stabbed the deer in its side. Naturally, the deer crashed, with no use of its legs, and Wolverine noticed its size.

            It was huge! He had no weights or anything, but this thing was going to last him for days! So, with his claws out, he began skinning it of its hide, and noticed as the moonlight began to fall upon him and the sun left its confines in the sky.    


	7. Insight

As he sat by the fire he had recently made, chewing on his venison jerky provided by Antlers, Logan's thoughts wandered to Silverback, his supposed- long-lost brother. This was the kind of thing that happened in bad movies, not in real life!

First, a mutant with a healing factor and the power to change into a werewolf showed up claiming to be his brother. Then, the mutant villain Mesmero hypnotized one of Logan's own teammates into attacking and kidnapping the big hairball. Naturally, the X-Men go off to find him, and what happens? They're attacked by chain saws and he ends up stranded in the Tibet woodlands, separated from his team.

He couldn't help wondering: what was Mesmero's motive? Why did he want Silverback? Had the chain saws been his idea, or was Mesmero only a pawn in some master plan of another? Had he wanted Logan separated from his team? So many questions!

And now, it seemed, that he needed Logan as part of the plan. He was going full force against the X-Men, suddenly insanely desperate to take over one of them. From what Jean had mentally told him, he had already tried taking over her, Scott, and himself, not to mention his earlier success with Nightcrawler. How was the mind molder projecting his powers over long distances? Logan already had a clue: it probably worked on most mutant powers. After all, there was no way that Kurt could teleport all the way to Tibet from Westchester.

Logan stayed on the alert at all times, afraid of a sudden mental ambush by Mesmero. That mutant mastermind was not going to catch him lying down.

And then there was Silverback. Was the story he had presented true? How on earth could Logan be a Brit?! But the again, the story made perfect sense. For years, Wolverine had always had questions about his past. Now he wasn't sure if he wanted the answers. An abusive father made perfect sense in connection with his own uncontrollable rage at times.

At that moment, Logan made a vow to himself. If he ever found his father, he would kill him. Kill him for what he had allowed Logan to become.

And at that moment, Logan's eyelids drifted down and he fell into restless slumber.

"He's asleep, master."

"Very good, Sabretooth. You've done well."

"Thank you master."

The giant stalked off into another hallway of the massive base that Mesmero found himself hiding in.

The mutant rubbed is hands together as if to begin scheming, and focused his eyes on the wall. "Logan…. This is Mesmero…."

"Hello Mesmero…"

Yes! The Wolverine had to be asleep!!! Now, to begin the plan.

"Are you still there Logan?"

"I am still here, Mesmero."

"You will listen to me, right Logan?"

"Correct."

"And you will follow my orders?"

"Correct."

That had to be Wolverine's subconscious talking. Logan had never talked that well in his life!

"Logan, I want you to focus very hard on what I tell you, all right?"

"All right, Mesmero."

"You are afraid of fire…"

"I'm afraid of fire."

"Nothing terrifies you more than fire…"

"Nothing terrifies me more than fire…"

Was there anything else that Mesmero could use as an advantage against the clueless Wolverine? He was no Xavier; attempting mind control again would be futile. As long as he was afraid of fire, signaling would be impossible. But there was one thing more…

"Logan, listen very closely."

"Yes, Mesmero."

"I am going to put a block in your mind, to keep that command from being undone."

"Yes, Mesmero."

Mesmero focused his powers intensely and placed the wall in the mind of Wolverine.

"One more command, all right Logan?"

"All right."

"You will not contact Jean Gray…"

"I will not contact Jean Gray."

"You will not mentally speak to her…"

"I will not mentally speak to her."

"If she tries to put something in your head, you will resist."

"If she tries to put something in my head, I will resist."

"That's a good boy, Logan. When I snap my fingers, you will resume sleeping."

"Yes, Mesmero."

Mesmero gave a quick snap.

"Are you awake, Logan?"

No answer.

Mesmero turned around and walked down the hallways until he reached a large room with a giant red throne at its back.

"S-sir, I have done as requested."

"Then the Gray woman will give Logan no trouble?"

"Affirmative, sir."

"Excellent Mesmero. You have been an able servant to me. You have permission to retire to your quarters."

"Thank you sir."

The figure on the throne let a slim smile show. "Now, now, Mesmero, you needn't call me that anymore. Your job is done, and that will be one f your rewards.

Mesmero gave a bow. "Yes si-… yes Magneto.   


	8. Handing Out Assignments

The X-Men slept in the Blackbird that night, with Scott piloting the giant ship throughout its long hours. Jean gently snored next to him in her seat, and her soft noises comforted him. He had the spotlights on, searching for Logan even through the night. He had made up his mind. Tomorrow they were going on the ground. They were much too high up in their plane to do their friend any good.

What kind of leader was he being? He hadn't even spoken with his team since leaving the mansion, with the obvious exceptions of Logan and Jean. Did Storm think she could be doing better? Was Angel bored? Did Beast have a better idea? Was Nightcrawler feeling guilty? He had no idea! Tomorrow, he vowed, he was going to give them their assignments, and he was going to right there with them.

He heard Jean stir next to him. "Switch spots with me honey. I'll take over."

"But Jean-"

"Don't argue, Scott. If you don't get any sleep, you're going to be one cranky husband in the morning, and I am _not dealing with that."_

They made the switch without any further arguing, and Jean opened her eyes fully as Scott closed his.

At 7:00, Scott woke up and found Jean's eyes penetrating him. "About time, sleepy-head! Half the team is awake! So, what's the plan for today?"

Scott took a bit of time to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and then answered, "I'm playing it by ear."

He wandered into the briefing room with a yawn and found himself staring at a wide awake, alert team staring at him. "I thought you said half of them were awake!" he mentally muttered to his wife.

"I lied!" She cheerfully responded, walking into the room herself.

Once she was seated, Scot began.

"Okay team, here's the plan. I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of waiting around up here hoping to spot Wolverine. Today we're beginning our ground search. Do you all have your com-links?" The group nodded in unison. "Good. Now, we'll need to split up.

"Storm, you're going to search west of here. Use whatever means necessary, and search for footprints, in case Wolverine's moved since he went overboard. If you find him, report back to me.

"Angel, fly low and slow east.

"Nightcrawler, I want you going south of here. Walk, teleport, I don't care what you, do, but look hard.

"Hank, you're with me. We'll go north. Everybody know what to do?"

Jean raised her hand quietly. "Where am I going to be, Scott?"

Scott answered, "You'll be up here in the Blackbird mentally scanning for any signs of Logan. Tell him to make a signal fire if you can."

Turning back to face the group, Cyclops finished. "If one of you finds something, tell me and Jean. If it's Logan, you all have the ability to get him up to the Blackbird. Okay, you've all got your parachutes ready. Let's move!"

In the mountains of Tibet, Mesmero's plans were being disturbed. According to the video bug he had on their plane, they were resorting to ground searching. Any one of those accursed mutants could find the Wolverine in a matter of minutes! He needed some way to intervene. Mind control had failed, but perhaps there was another, simpler way to get what he needed.

He walked over to a machine and pressed the intercom button. "Calling the Menace to the briefing room. Repeat, calling the menace to the briefing room."

He himself left the room and stepped into a different one, with nothing but a table and chairs to accommodate it. Before long, his team of mutants had arrived. Sabretooth, Pyro, Scarlet Witch, and Magneto. The last member in that list seemed to shake Mesmero. "Si-…Magneto, you needn't have come!"

The deep voice responded. "You called for the Menace, and I am its leader, so I came, Mesmero. Is something wrong?"

"No sir."

"Then please continue and tell us all why we were summoned. I for one, am curious."

"Yes master." Nervously turning away from the rest of the group, Mesmero regained his confidence away from the glare of Magneto. "All right, fellow mutants. The Menace was assembled as a team of evil mutants similar to the Brotherhood of old, and I think it is time we test our effectiveness before the X-Men find our wandering friend in the wilderness. They are currently performing a ground search for him, but Gray remained in the jet, so we are safe from her." Turning reluctantly back to Magneto, he asked, "What should we do now, master?"

Magneto stood like a true leader and handed out assignments. "Sabretooth, you go west. If you find an X-Man, kill them. Pyro, I want you moving south. I will go north. Wanda, go east. Mesmero, you will stay here and try to break Gray's will. I want her out of the way." He headed to the door but gave his head a slight turn before turning the doorknob. "Let's show the X-Men what we're made of!"   


	9. Storm vs Sabretooth

Just so you'll know, I realize that the Scarlet Witch turned good in the early 60's, but having Magneto as her father and her great power, I couldn't resist adding her in. Enjoy! Oh, and I hope you like fight scenes, 'cause that's what the next few chapters are going to be  

Storm was having no luck at all in her assignment. Not a single footprint, scrap of costume, dead animal, nothing. If she didn't know better, she would suspect that Logan was on the Blackbird sipping a beer. All she needed was one little clue…!

            The trees all swayed lightly with the breeze. She felt sorry for the other X-Men. They were probably cold in only their costumes. Sure, they were thermal, but nothing worked as well as shining the sun on you directly. Besides, if she ever grew too hot (which was unlikely, considering where she had lived for the majority of her early life), she could always make a nice breeze to cool her off.

Suddenly, she heard a light rustle in one tree to her left. The noise stopped nearly as soon as it had begun, so she paid it no mind and continued her search.

"Logan, Logan, why did you have to get so stubborn?" she muttered. She hoped the others were having better luck than she was.

Suddenly, she felt something huge, something heavy, fall onto her back with a monstrous grip around her neck. She fell to the ground quickly and could feel the air being forced out of her. "Aauhg!" she choked. There was no way to escape the grip. Unless…

She could hear the beast's cry of anguish as the lightning bolt struck his back. Ororo was not feeling kind today. The monster slid off her back and she got up and turned around in time to see it lying before her.

"Sabretooth!" she cried.

"Just playin' possum, sugar!" mumbled the mutant. He suddenly, as unexpected as the lightning had been, leapt upon Storm and scraped the skin off her back with a quick swipe. Storm gave a howl of throbbing as the blood ran down her back. Sabretooth went for the next swipe as quickly as the first, but this time Ororo was prepared. Her eyes went white, and a gust of wind flew Sabretooth far away from her. She could hear the thud as his monstrous form struck a giant redwood.

Ignoring the throbbing in her back, she flew swiftly to the spot where he lay rubbing his head. She summoned another gust and knocked him into the tree again. And again. And again.

"What do you want with the X-Men, Sabretooth?!? Who are you working for? Did you kidnap Silverback? Speak, monster!!!"

She let the wind stop long enough for an answer from Sabretooth: "Give it up, sister!'

She held him with the wind and began focusing yet again. "So be it." As Sabretooth watched in terror, a gigantic tornado began to appear behind her. Trees flew from side to side like playthings tossed by a child. The wind crashed around her, and as she flew higher, until she was directly in front of her cyclone, she had never looked more like a goddess.

She heard Sabretooth's cry of "Noooooooo!" and observed as her twister picked him up. And she watched as it threw him miles back. Once she knew he had hit the ground, she let her tornado cease, and radioed in Cyclops on her com link. "Be ready, Scott. I don't think we're alone in this forest. And I've got a bad back wound. I'll see you up in the Blackbird."

Sabretooth radioed in Magneto on his own com link. "Boss, I've got bad news. I got matched up against the weather-witch, and I lost big time. Be prepared, 'cause I'm pretty sure we're each gonna end up facing an X-Man. Sabretooth, over and out."

So, Magneto thought. He would be facing an X-Man too, eh? All the better. He looked forward to crushing him or her. The Menace would win this war, and no team of human-lovers was going to stop him.


	10. Pyro vs Nightcrawler

            Nightcrawler was not having much fun. Teleporting around a forest was not his idea of a good time, even if it was for a good cause. Besides, it was a little offending when animals ran away from him out of pure fright. What, hadn't they ever seen a blue fuzzy mutant with a devil's tail before?

            He kept hoping to hear on the com link that Storm or Angel or Cyclops had found Wolverine, but no such messages were given. How far away could Logan be, anyway? He'd jumped out of the Blackbird and been carried south, but how far south? He slapped his hand to his head. He was heading south! If anyone was likely to find their lost member, it was him. Wonderful. That just meant that Cyclops would be talking frequently on the com link. Kurt was tempted to turn his off.

            He teleported to a nearby tree and rested there for a moment. Teleporting consistently was hard on the body, as he had quickly found out. What he wouldn't give for the tree he sat in to be an apple tree! He was dying of hunger, it seemed like. When was lunch? He unwisely decided to ask Scott. "Fearless leader, vhen is lunch time? I am growing hungrier each minute we continue our search."

            The harsh reply was, "The minute you find Logan, we can pig out on our way to rescue Silverback. Till then, Kurt, live with it. Over and out."

            Nightcrawler muttered a few uncomplimentary words under his breath and resumed searching. Leaping from branch to branch, he stopped suddenly. Footprints! Bless the Lord! A trail of footprints right in front of his face! Thank the Lord for soft mud!

            "Cyclops, this is Nightcrawler! I've found some footprints, and I'm a monkey if they're not Logan's!"

            "Yes! Give me your coordinates and we'll all be right over, Kurt. Good job!"

            Pulling out his techno-map that all the X-Men were equipped with, he began to read them off. "I'm at __ and… aaah!!!"

            His tecno-map suddenly melted into slag. The blue mutant dropped the device and whirled around in terror. He saw notrhing. "Vhat happened?" he asked out loud. Suddenly, he felt a burst of flame singe his clothes. He dodged in time for it not to do any serious damage, but he could see the whirling column of flame hit the tree two inches away from him.

            "Who are you? Vhat do you vant?" he asked to his attacker. "The names Pyro, freak! I think you remember me!" shouted the evil mutant as he leapt out of the bushes. The two circled around each other, waiting to see who would make the next move.

            As they circled, Pyro radioed in on his com link. "Magneto, I've found blue boy, but if it's okay with you, I'm not going to kill him. He knows where Wolverine is"

            The answer came back instantly. "Of course. Subdue and capture him, but try not to do too much harm.

            Nightcrawler radioed in his leader as well. "Scott, I've caught up with Pyro, so bringing in ze cavalry vould be a very good idea right about now!"

            "We're comin' Kurt!"

            Once both were done communicating with their leaders, Pyro made the first move. A giant dragon of flame dove down at Nightcrawler at break-neck speed. The demonic mutant teleported speedily away from its doom and watched as the dragon engulfed the tree he had been standing next to. Shuddering at what might have been his fate, he teleported to a nearby tree. Pyro caught a glimpse of him and his hands shot the flames right at the German mutant. There was no dodging this time for Nightcrawler. He felt the intense pain sear through him and fell to the ground in pain. Screaming over and over again, he watched as Pyro walked slightly away from his prey and radioed in again. "Magneto? This is Pyro again. Everything's going according to plan. Yes, I whipped him in a matter of seconds. Yes, I'll try to follow Logan's trail. Yeah. See you later."

            Nightcrawler had lost.     


	11. Angel vs the Scarlet Witch

            Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. the Avenging Angel, had just received his message from the com link. So, Kurt had found Wolverine, eh? Figures. All that searching had now officially been in vain. He had been holding out hope that perhaps, if luck turned around and finally faced him, he would find his quarry and at least have a reason all that looking around in the cold wilderness of Tibet.

            He had rejoined the X-Men because he missed the action. Where was the action now? Scott and the short maniac had been the only ones to get any before all this. And they'd both gotten it twice! If he didn't know better, he'd say that there was some evil writer typing up the story of the X-Men. And if so, he'd say the writer was playing favorites. {Sorry about that, but I just couldn't resist- Sorcerer Swordsman}

            However, it seemed that maybe the 'Crawler had gotten some fun too. After all, his message had ended with a scream, and he hadn't finished it later. Not to mention that Storm had gotten to rough-house with Sabretooth. Even if he wasn't any competition, he envied her. She'd gotten his craved battle, and to top it off, didn't have to look around any more, thanks to her back injury. It was all enough to make him go back to being Warren Worthington III, boy billionaire all over again!

            He ruffled his wings a little and sat under a nice, big tree for a minute. "Aah, that feels good!" he sighed as he felt his sore wings loosen up a little. The enjoyment was felt soon by his legs and arms. He felt his eyelids droop down a little, and didn't try to stop their steady descent. "Scott'll never know," he thought as he began his nap. He could hear the birds chirping, the leaves rustling, and footsteps as he slipped into dreaming.

            Wait a minute, he thought. Footsteps? Wolverine was in the opposite direction, wasn't he? He again heard two soft, but distinctly human, footsteps and reluctantly opened his eyes in apprehension and curiosity. More footsteps.

            Okay, he thought, time to investigate. He halfheartedly got up from his shady sleeping spot and stretched his wings a bit. "Come out, come out, whoever you are!" he called. He was answered with a hex bolt to the chest. Its force knocked him into the tree and he slumped back to his napping place. Rubbing his head, he said, "That felt vaguely familiar. And vaguely painful, too!"

            He could see another red beam come for him, and rolled away from the blast in time. "Red beam, red beam. Who could fire red beams?" A little lightbulb clicked in his head as he thought.

            "Come on out, Witchy! Hiding's not going to help you any more!"

            A woman in her twenties, dressed in a red skintight costume, came out from behind a tree a few feet away with her hands raised in the air as though to say 'You've got me.' The Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff.

            "Well, that was easy!" said the Angel cheerfully. "Now come along quietly." Wanda muttered something that escaped Angel's hearing. "Huh? What was that?" he asked, raising his hand to his ear.

            "I said, 'Fool!'" she said loudly, lowering her hands and pointing them at Angel. Red beams shot out from both and flew quickly towards the X-Man. He dove to the ground to dodge them, only be tripped by a root, courtesy of the Witch's hex power. "Let me go, lady!" he shouted as he vainly attempted to free his foot from the root.

            "I'm no lady, X-Man," she said as she pointed her finger at the struggling form of Warren Worthington III.

            "Then don't expect me to be a gentleman!" he shouted. A solid punch connected with the surprised Scarlet Witch's jaw and she fell backwards. Her control over the root diminished for a moment and Angel speedily freed himself. "Good thing," he thought. "How embarrassing would it be to have the high-flying Angel defeated by a tree root?"

            The Witch was back on her feet in no time, and she pointed at the tree behind Angel. A giant limb fell down and narrowly missed him, instead hitting his left foot's big toe. He grabbed the foot childishly and hopped a minute before realizing that the witch was still pointing at him. A hex bolt hit his foot again, and he fell flat on his back.

            "And now it ends," she said emotionlessly, pointing her fingers at the Angel.

            "Dream on!" he shouted. He kicked off and beat his wings at top speed, ascending like a rocket. Looking below, he could see the Scarlet Witch still pointing at him. "What's she going to do?" he wondered out loud. "There's no way she can hit me when up this high!"

            He never had time to see the hex-hit tree plummet down upon his back, breaking several bones instantly. Nor did he watch as the giant brought him to the ground at a horribly quick speed. All he saw was the dirt and rock. And then, all black.

            Wanda turned away from her victim to speak on her com link. "Father? This is Wanda. The one called Angel is either unconscious or dead, thanks to a little battle I staged with him. Yes, it wasn't much of a problem, but a bit more than Pyro had. Should I bring him back as a prisoner? All right, I'll do that. Yes, he'll be an excellent addition to our collection of X-Men. I'll see you soon. Over and out." 


	12. Good vs Evil

            Magneto traveled alone. So it had always been, so it would always be. He trusted no one. True, he often recruited evil mutants to suit his fancy and do the occasional dirty work, but he trusted none of them… except perhaps Wanda. Even one as evil as Magneto had trouble fighting the paternal feelings that all fathers feel deep down. But he still traveled alone.

            He had left Mesmero back at the base for a good reason indeed. He knew from experience that the Gray woman was a powerful force to be reckoned with. After all, she possessed the same powers he had and more. He could lift metal, and she could lift anything. He found himself feeling sorry for anyone that got in her way when she was once Dark Phoenix. If she ever grew as powerful as he had become…

            He swept the thought aside, concentrating on the job at hand. He had a strong feeling that he would need to fight an X-Man sooner or later, judging by the luck of his lackeys. He only hoped he would find Wolverine first. The capture of him was vital to his plan, and, well, a man made of a metal skeleton stood little chance against the Master of Magnetism.

            He relished the thought of what he would do if he did find an X-Man. Kill them? Capture them? Torture them? The possibilities were seemingly endless. He was holding out for it to be Cyclops. He could just imagine the look on Xavier's face when he found out that his precious Scott Summers had been beaten by his greatest foe. But Xavier was with the Shi'ar for now, and had no time for gloating.

            But if he did find Cyclops, he would grind his bones into the dust, and dance on them in joy.

            Scott Summers and Hank McCoy were getting along fairly well for a happy-go-lucky goofball and an always-brooding boss. They had, after all, been friends for quite a while, and knew everything about each other--- which in Scott's case was not necessarily a good thing.

            "So Scotty, still afraid of girls?"

            "Hank, I'm married now," said Scott uncomfortably.

            "And you and Jean were courting for how long? Let's see, she came to the Institute 1960-something and you got married now in the year… 1989?"

            "I like long courtships…"

            "Long!!! Hahahahaha!!!"

            "Hank, quit making fun of me, man, I know I'm old-fashioned!"

            "I like long courtships!!! Hahahahaha!!!!!"

            "Oh leave me alone, Hank or I'll make fun of you!"

            Hank paused, and his smile vanished. "Like what?"

            "Remember when you first became fuzzy, and you were moping around everywhere on a 'woe is me' trip? Huh, remember?"

            "Yeah, I remember…" muttered the Beast.

            "You should've seen yourself. 'I'm a monster, everyone'll run when they see me, I'm a freak.'"

            "Okay, okay, I get it. Cut it out!"

            "Then we're even."

            "Deal."

            They continued walking towards where Nightcrawler had radioed in when Cyclops heard a soft humming noise. "Beast, was that you?"

            "Nooo…" said Beast. "But I heard it too. What do you think it is?"

            "I don't know, but be ready for a fight. Anything could happen."

            A voice from behind them chilled their souls as it spoke. "Indeed."

            Cyclops whirled around and raised his hand to his visor. "Magneto!"

            Magneto moved his hand and Scott felt himself being pulled upwards. "My belt!" he shouted. "Beast, do something. You don't have any metal on!"

            Beast gave a smart salute. "Righteeyo, boss-man!" He flung himself upon Magneto, who responded with a backhand across the blue mutant's face. "You dare defile me with your touch?! For that you shall pay!" Grabbing the struggling Beast by the throat, he flung him into a tree behind him.

            Cyclops, given the distraction he needed, fired a fast optic blast at his enemy, knocking Magneto to the ground. Magneto struggled to get up, but was knocked back down with a stronger blast. Cyclops jumped down from where Magneto had placed him and grabbed his enemy by the collar. "This is what happens when you mess with the X-Men!" he spat, punching the Master of Magnetism across the mouth.

            Cyclops left Magneto lying on the ground and went to check on Beast, but was stopped in his tracks. He struggled to make his feet move, but they refused. He then felt himself being pulled down by his belt to the earth, try as he might to refuse. He looked to where Magneto stood as he attempted to free himself, and saw the evil mutant sticking his hand out towards himself. "Simple rules of magnetism, Cyclops. If a magnet attracts another metal, that metal can be turned into a magnet as well. And there's quite a bit of iron deposit beneath your feet right now."

            Cyclops saw Magneto's eyes grow bigger for a moment, and felt himself being pulled down forcefully to the earth below him, his belt totally magnetized. Suddenly, he got an idea as he lay there upon the ground. "Simple rules of magnetism, eh Magneto? Then in that case…" He rolled over and felt Magneto draw closer to him. "What's happening!?!" shouted Magneto. "My belt's magnetized now, Magneto. And your wearing quite a bit of metal yourself!"

            Magneto resigned his plan to save himself, letting Cyclops free of his invisible grip. "You are smarter than I had thought, Cyclops," he said. "But can you fight _and save your wife?!" He directed all of his attention to the Blackbird, rocking it violently from side to side. "I am too powerful for you to contend with, Cyclops. Give it up, or Jean Gray dies!"_

            "Oh shut up!" shouted Beast. He leapt from his hiding place onto Magneto again, grabbing his arms like a policeman. "Hit him, Scottie!"

            "Just a minute, Beast!" shouted Cyclops. Aiming his visor towards the diving Blackbird, he fired his most powerful optic blast and hit it right on the bottom of the jet, putting it back on its course. It shuddered violently for a moment or too, but stayed steady after a few seconds, with the help of Jean he was sure.

            "Okay, Beast, just a few seconds more…" he said, watching Beast struggle with his cornered victim. He fired a concussion-level beam and watched it make contact with Magneto's chest, knocking him out instantly.

            Radioing in his team, he pressed the button on the com link. "Okay, team, everyone listen up. Meet in the Blackbird's briefing area asap. Magneto's involved in this little scheme, and I want a plan. Cyclops, over and out."

  
            


	13. Debriefing

Allrightee everyone. I have already been sent many reviews (and I appreciate every one and would like a few more to satisfy my craving) and some have told me that I've got Wolverine's origin wrong. So here we go. I know! I have never been a Wolverine fan, to tell you the honest truth. In case you can't tell, Scott and Jean have always been my favorites. I chose Wolverine because I was fascinated by what I thought was his mysterious past. I haven't read any X-Men comics that were newer than the early 80's and as far as I know, they have never given his origin in the X-Men cartoon series or X-Men: Evolution (my favorite show.) All I knew was the basic summary of the 'Origin' story, which I read in a book. Past that, I made this entire origin up, because I thought that past that, they were still holding true to the mysterious past thing with Leapin' Logan. So there we go, I've started a speech now. The point is, though I don't really mind if you tell me anyway, I know I've got Wolvie's origin wrong. Thank you and enjoy this and all upcoming chapters.

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            Scott lifted himself off the ground with Magneto in one arm and Beast in the other. Unfortunately for his comfort, both were needed for their upcoming mission. He stared at the ground, fired his more powerful optic beams, and suddenly, as he had planned it, they were all being lift off the ground by the force that he was emitting. It wasn't a very comfortable ride, but before long, they were at the Blackbird door. Jean opened it for them and Scott turned off his beam.

            He rushed to the briefing room still with both of his passengers, and did a double-take as he entered the room.

            "What took you so long, bub?"

            Wolverine was sitting at the briefing table, drinking a beer!

            Scott dropped both of the men he was carrying in disbelief, much to Beast's dismay. "L-logan? Is that _you?"_

            Logan belched loudly then set his beer down. "Well, I think so. But Mesmero's a tricky guy; y'never know what he coulda done!"

            Scott fixed his eyes back in their sockets and looked angrily at his wife. "Jean," he said slowly. "Why didn't you tell me that Logan was up here?"

            Seeing the irritation on her husband's face, she responded just as carefully, but in a much less frightnening way. "Well, um Scott, I sort of thought it would be a nice, um, well, surprise?"

            Scott looked as though he was about to blow a gasket. His face went red and his eyes bulged. "A surprise? A nice little surprise? Is that it?" Jean nodded meekly. "Well, Jean I sort of wish that you could have told me of that little _surprise_ before now, because that would have saved me a certain fight!!!" He motioned towards the floor where Magneto lay in a slump. Jean looked as though she was about to start an explanation, but never got to begin.

            Logan gave a cry of rage and jumped straight from his seat to the top of the table like a thunder bolt. "Magneto!!!" he spat in rage. He leapt from the table and unsheathed his claws in midair, his eyes focused intently on Magneto, and dove down towards him. He hit a point a scarce few inches from the chest of the master of magnetism and suddenly seemed to bounce off the air, knocking him to the floor.

            He gave another cry of animalistic fury and tried to dig his claws into Magneto, but was again repelled by some invisible force. He sheathed his claws, his eyes searching the room for some sign of what had happened.

            They focused on a concentrating Jean. When she noticed his eyes fixed upon her, she stopped. "I'm no Invisible Woman, but psychic forcefields are about as effective as hers. Sorry, Logan, but we need him for questioning."

            Logan gave her a look of pure venom and returned to his seat, breathing evenly in anger. "You don't know what he did to me, Jeanie," he mumbled under his breath.

            "Then tell us, Logan," said Scott, on cue. "What's been going on since you went overboard. We need to know."

            Logan gave another venomous look to Magneto this time, and began his tale.

            "Well, after chrome-dome over there decided chain saws made great weapons and fired 'em at the Blackbird, I decided I was getting' rusty at fighting, so I went after 'em and shot 'em down, but I went down too. I landed who knows where from here in the forest and tried to survive off what I found. I went deer hunting for food, but didn't bother with a fire after that first night, 'cause it--- didn't seem like the right thing to do--- yeah, that's it.

            "Anyways, Mesmero tried to bust into my head, but I told him it wasn't for rent, and with Jeanie's help, fought him off. For some reason, he never tried coming back. He also tried getting me to go to sleep, but I don't think I ever did. I might've dozed off once, but no harm came of it, far as I can tell.

            "That was when he came one for time. He- I don't know how he did it--- started puttin' images in my head. Scary stuff no man should have to see. Things like me dyin', things like all of you dyin', things like Silverback dyin'. It was bad stuff. No matter what I did, he wouldn't leave me alone, and I started thinkin' I was going crazy. I wandered the woods like I used to before I became… Weapon X.

            "Then, I saw it. Silverback was standin' right in front of me raising his arms up like he was callin' for me or something. He looked awful, just awful. All bloody and ragged. Then all I could hear was Mesmero laughin' throughout the woods. I said some words I wouldn't say in front of Kitty, and started goin' crazy all over again.

            "But then it was like Mesmero was cut off. As though he was gone, or something. In mid-laugh and everything. Then I could see Silverback again, but this time there was blood all over his claws. He looked like he was tryin' to tell me somethin'  but I'm no lip-reader, so I couldn't understand any of it. Except one thing--- 'Magneto's after both of us."

            Wolverine looked around to see the expressions of everyone, to see their shock, disbelief, and in some cases surprise. "After that, Storm saw me when she was flyin' back to the Blackbird, and I think you know the rest."

            Scott stood up as Logan sat back down. "All right, Logan, now we know more. Magneto's after you and Silverback, and it's my guess that the X-Men are just getting in his way. From what you guys told me on your com links, we're going up against Magneto, obviously; Pyro; Scarlet Witch; and Sabretooth. And Mesmero of course. Folks, it looks like we've got another Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to go against.

            "What they don't know, is that we have the advantage. They took Angel and Nightcrawler, and that's bad. There's triple incentive for going to Tibet. But we've got the advantage. We got their leader. Magneto's all ours. Let's measure the teams real fast and see how it works out.

            "For them, there's Sabretooth, Mesmero, Pyro, and Scarlet Witch. For us, there's Jean, Logan, Storm, Beast, and I. See what I'm saying? We have the advantage in numbers, power, and experience. With a few exceptions, they've never battled together. We most definetely have. Now granted, they've got quite a bit of muscle on their team, but it shouldn't stop us."

            Scott paused for a moment to look around the room, and his expression grew more serious. "People, this a big mission. Some of us may die, but keep the goal in mind. Silverback, Nightcrawler, and Angel are all prisoners over in Tibet, and we need to get them back. Use all your power you can, and there's no way we can lose."

            He paused to let it sink in then delivered the ultimatum: "Okay, team, let's go win some prisoners!"     


	14. Practice Makes Perfect

"Approaching Himalayas," said Cyclops, Pressing down on the control panel's intercom button. "Get your uniforms on, everyone, if you haven't already. Oh, and Storm, as an FYI, we want a forecast of sunshine and a light breeze."

He turned to his returned copilot, Wolverine, and asked "Logan, how far away are we?"

"Two miles, boss man. We should land before Mez finds out we're here.

"Good to know, partner. Preparing for descent." Scott moved the controls in a steady, downward swerve and began landing behind a nice-sized, snowy hill, out of sight from Mesmero's base. Looking out of his window, Logan could see the steel-plated door that protected the fortress from intruders.

Cyclops made an easy landing, and all the X-Men made their way off the Blackbird in full uniform, just as instructed. Jean walked over to her husband and waited for him to begin their plan.

Scott cleared his throat and started. "Okay, this is going to be a full team mission. No partners, nothing like that. Just me leading all of you.

"Now, if you don't mind, Beast, go up this hill _stealthily_ and make sure it's not a trap. Mesmero's tricky, even without Magneto to lead." Turning to Jean, he seemed to get off subject. "Magneto is still trapped in the Blackbird, right Jean?"

"That psychic bubble I wrapped him in shouldn't wear off for another few hours, if that's what you mean, honey."

"Good. Now, go on Beast."

Beast gave a smart salute. "Yessir, Scottie boy!" He hopped up the mountainside like a blue fuzzy frog until he was out of sight. A few moments later, he leapt down in the same fashion.

"Okeydoke, boss-man, now we know they're not stupid. Pyro's waiting for us to hop down, so I think they know we're here. I say we jump him!"

Scott gave it a moment's thought, but no more. "Agreed. Storm, you and I will go down there real fast. I want hail unless you get any better ideas. Let's go."

Not quite as quickly as Beast, they reached the hilltop. Scott and Storm both crouched down, and Scott squinted to look closer. "Yeah, Beast was right. There's our buddy Pyro, just waiting for us to show up and say hi." He set his visor down to concussion-level and started slowly sliding down.

Storm glided at the same speed, not allowing the wind to tell of her presence at all. Her eyes began to go white as the snow above which she flew, and penny-sized hail began to fall, followed by golf ball-sized.

They could both see Pyro being battered mercilessly by her trick. "Weather-witch!!! I know you're behind this! Come out and show yourself!"

Storm flew right in front of him at the bottom inside a little crevice. "Gladly," she said.

"This is where you get deep-fried, lady!" shouted the villain.

Scott shouted, "Now!" Storm ducked, and Scott jumped down, firing and hitting Pyro square in the chest before he hit the bottom. Pyro slumped to the soft, white ground and into unconsciousness as soon as he was hit.

Storm glided back up as the hail stopped and was soon reunited with Scott, along with the rest of the team, all eager for battle. Wolverine's claws were out.

Scott gestured to the door. "Wolverine, would you do the honors?"

Logan grunted in satisfaction. "Gladly." He rushed at the door like a hunting lion--- or wolverine, and as he reached the solid steel door, dug his claws into it fiercly. His claws went through it like butter, and he cut a straight box through it. He pulled his claws out and the door fell to his feet.

"There's your opening, bub," he motioned for Cyclops.

"Wow," said a clearly impressed Beast.

The rest of the team followed into the room. It was about as big as a basketball court without the bleachers, and was surrounded with robots going to and fro everywhere. They were big and small, thin as wire and fat as basketballs, and all appeared to be some sort of titanium-steel alloy. It was like a mini factory run entirely by machines.

Everyone was taken aback for a moment at all the life brewing about before them in little machines. They were reminded of what to do when one robot, a four foot one with a basketball belly, stared with red eyes at them. "Intruders," it acknowledged. "We must attack."

Suddenly, its bright red eyes glowed for a moment, and a laser shot from each one! Jean made both avoid the team as a whole and go into the hill, but the team was awake again. "X-Men, attack!" shouted Scott.

Wolverine dashed forward and cut through two in one swipe. Turning around, he gutted one in its mechanical stomach and tossed it against one aiming for Cyclops.

"I owe you one, Logan!" shouted Cyclops. He suddenly saved Wolverine, beaming one about to shoot Logan. "Not no more, Cyke!" shouted Wolverine.

Storm was using wind to her advantage, since there was no sky for anything else. Every robot that came at her was met with their own tornado and tossed against the wall.

Jean was having probably the easiest time. All she had to do was point at them and Cyclops would shoot skeet for her. They were making a perfect team.

Beast wasn't doing half bad either. All he had to do was grab one and hurl I somewhere. Thanks to Storm, to whom he was sticking close, none were getting their chance to shoot at him.

Scott fired down the last one a few seconds later, and all activity in the room ceased again. "Okay, team, excellent work. That was a good practice for the real bad guys. A nice session in the Danger Room, you might say."

Looking ahead, he saw another steel door in front of them. "Wolverine?" he said. Two minutes later, the door was as its brother… on the floor. Scott turned to his team. "All right, team. On to Mesmero!"       


	15. Brother against Brother

For the record, the next few chapters will be very violent, so you might want to consider them PG-13. There's your warning.

Scott led their way through what he had mentally dubbed the 'robot room' into the next area. It seemed to be a long hallway, with five doors on each side and one at each end, including the one that Wolverine had sliced through. Each door was steel-plated, but these had buttons to press in order to go through. Obviously, Mesmero hadn't expected any intruders to get past the robot room.

            Scott turned to Jean. "Which room is Silverback in, honey?"

            Jean concentrated for a moment. "Silverback's in the third door from the right, but Nightcrawler and Angel are in the second from the left. Where do we go, Scott?"

            Cyclops pondered this for a moment. "Warren and Kurt can take care of themselves fairly well. They're X-Men. Let's go get Silverback!" Wolverine's sigh of satisfaction was audible among them.

            Scott walked over to the door and made a 'ssh' sign to the team. One the count of three, he pressed the button and stepped in.

            "O my god," gasped Jean. 

Silverback, in full wolf form was strapped up in rough leather and chained with steel bricks. He looked as though had been severely beaten, probably in order to get X-Men secrets. His fur was matted and was more gray now than black. He looked as though he had been in wolf form for days. Had he not had a healing factor, he would have surely died.

            His teeth were sharper than ever, but red with blood. What Mesmero had made him do in order to eat was horrific to even consider. His eyes were bloodshot, as though he had not gotten any sleep since having arrived. His claws had the same sharp, bloody look as the teeth. His nose was skinned up. Overall, he was a total mess.

            "Bro," said Wolverine weakly. "What did they do to you?"

            Silverback tried to give a raspy answer, but spit up blood onto the floor. Wolverine backed up and looked away from his team for a minute. He turned his head back, and looked totally different. "I knew Mesmero was slimy, evil creep," he said softly. "But I never knew he was this bad. Torture!" He looked to Cyclops with determination and (was that water in his eyes?) announced strongly, "Let's go get those punks!"

            Cyclops gave a weak smile and nodded. "I agree totally, Logan. But we need to get Silverback to the Blackbird and then go get Kurt and Warren before any revenge sprees begin. Now come on, help me pick him up."

            They went to go lift the damaged Silverback, but their hands went right through him! A voice from behind them announced, "Sorry, boys, but you're not picking anyone up for now!"

            Silverback leapt upon Cyclops with a snarl and raised his teeth to go into his skin. "Hey!" shouted Wolverine. He tackled his brother football-style before any damage cold be done. "What the heck are you doin', Greg?!?"

            The werewolf before them stood to its full eight foot height. "What I'm being paid for, 'brother!'" He gave a slashing claw swipe at Logan and cut through the skin, only to watch it reappear as fast as it had left. Both gave an animalistic roar and Logan leapt upon his so-called brother, claws out. He dug his claws into the stomach savagely, but that healed as fast as he had. Silverback simply kicked him off with his hind legs.

            In the background, Ororo began to focus on lightning. She felt a cold hand upon her shoulder. "No, Storm. We need to let Logan take this one alone."

            "But, Cyclops---"

            "No. We have a job to do, Ororo. There are still two X-Men being held hostage by the same guy that pulled this entire scheme off. They are the priority now. For once, let Logan do what needs to be done."

            "But, Scott…he'll kill Silverback!!!"

            Scott's eyes hardened. "I know." He turned and walked away, and the rest of the X-Men had no choice but to follow their leader.

            Wolverine recovered quickly from being kicked and tackled Silverback again. The beast fell backwards, and Logan stabbed into his chest again and again and again. The healing factor just kept kicking in every time. Silverback swept his hand powerfully and knocked Logan backwards.

            Logan's eyes were bloodshot now. He leapt upon Silverback and dug his claws into the monster's head. "How could you do that to me!?!! How could you do that?!?!?!" Silverback grabbed his attacker, allowing time for his skull to heal, and tossed him through the door and into the hallway. Logan ran at full speed and slashed the arms of his one-time brother, but again to no avail.

            He kicked his brother in the shins and flipped backwards in time to avoid a slap. Silverback came racing into the hallway to get at him, and Logan unexpectedly grabbed him in a headlock and wrestled him to the ground. Fearing another kick, he cut off both legs. Before they could grow back, he punched Silverback across the mouth. "How could you!?!?!" he shouted again. "I actually thought you were my brother!!!"

            Silverback took the distraction to flip him over his back and back out into the snow. With Storm no longer concentrating, it was lightly starting to lightly fall again. Silverback ran out to find his adversary, but could see no trace of the man called Wolverine.

            Suddenly, he felt claws dig into his back and into the bones. He gave a cry of pain and threw Wolverine into a nearby hill. Silverback came chasing after him, and Logan started to run up the mountain. The farther he got, the farther Silverback lagged behind. Finally, he reached the top of the mountain, overlooking the mighty Himalayas. He had to be up thousands of feet!

            He felt Silverback on his head, claws digging into his skull, and threw him to the ground, going along with him. They both hopped up again quickly, and Wolverine gave one mighty punch to the jaw. Silverback stumbled to the edge of the cliff and fell. His hand grabbed at the cliff's edge and held on by that one hand.

            "Let me help you!" said Wolverine, forgetting the fight entirely even as his skull healed.

            Silverback seemed to be fighting all instincts inside. "Never," he whispered. He let go of the cliff's side and fell to his death in the lake. He could not swim, and he drowned.

            Logan then did something he had never done in his entire life. He prayed. For the brother he had never had, for the brother he had thought he had, and for himself, a loner once more.        


	16. The Battle Begins

Sorry that it took me a while to update, but what with school starting, I was a little busy. Besides, after the finale of last chapter, it saddened me to leave Wolverine and go back to the X-Men. But don't worry, the story's not over yet. There's still more thrills to come, and a special surprise at the end of the story… Enjoy!

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            Mesmero, in his quiet control room, had learned via security cameras, of the X-Men's entry into his secure base. He knew that Logan and Silverback had left, but knew not of their fate.

            "No, no, no!" he shrieked, when the X-Men approached the door of where he was. "They can't come in here! They can't!"

            "Calm yourself, Mesmero," said a calm, cold voice behind him. "I will defend you, weakling that you are."

            Mesmero whirled around and fell to his knees in relief and fear. "Magneto!" he cried. Indeed, the master of magnetism hovered before him, the red and purple armor all on, the helmet still intact. "Master! Thank you, master! I have no fear anymore!" He grabbed Magneto's leg like a toddler grabs his mothers. He looked indeed like a crying little baby.

            Magneto gave him a disgusted look and spat upon the ground. "You do not fear now that I am here, Mesmero?"

            Mesmero cried out, sycophancy in his voice, "Never, great one! I would never fear!"

            Magneto gave an evil chuckle. "Then you are more of a fool than I had anticipated." He gestured toward the wall and Mesmero was hurled against it brutally, like a cannonball against a fortress.

            "Master!" cried out Mesmero in confusion.

            "You have outlived our usefulness, Mesmero. And when the X-Men succeed in bursting in here, you will not get in my _way_!" He emphasized the last word as he threw Mesmero against the steel door, bursting it open. The X-Men, Cyclops in the lead, ran in and Scott stopped suddenly, a look of bewilderment on his face.

            Magneto gave a chilling snigger. "You should have remembered that my helmet blocks all psychic ability. _All_. Not just mind control. And Ms. Gray's bubble was psychic. Now, what are you waiting for? Come at me!"

            Scott led the charge, and all his team followed suit. He was able to fire one optic beam before Magneto waved and he flew over to where Mesmero's unconscious body lay. Scott shouted, "Team, split up! He can't take us all at once!"

            He started to shout another order, but was interrupted when his wife landed on his head. "Sorry, hon. Magneto."

            "Look on the bright side. It could have been vice versa."

            Jean laughed and formed a telekinetic bubble around them.

            When Magneto turned his back to go against Storm, Scott whispered, "Make me a fire-hole." Jean complied and cut a perfect circle through her circle. Scott turned his visor on high and let 'er rip. Jean had to strain to keep the hole from being cut wider. Because she held it, the beam increased as it went out, and Magneto was knocked to his knees when it hit his back full force.

            He turned around to go for Scott, but was knocked back down by a strong wind from Storm. "Attempting to defeat us is pointless, Magneto," she said, holding him down with the wind. He hurled her backwards with his magnetic power, and was met with a punch to the mouth from Beast.

            Scott fired again, and Magneto was bruised as he flew into the wall behind Storm.

            She had to turn to focus her wind again, and he took the opportunity to send her into Scott and Jean's bubble. She gave a short cry and fell to the floor. Beast leapt upon Magneto's back and using a great judo move, flipped him backwards in midair. As the master of magnetism descended down, Scott let loose once again and sent him back into the wall.

            Storm, recovered now, let her wind hold him as he struggled to break free from the invisible grip she had imprisoned him in.

            Jean looked at Scott, who nodded. She took away her bubble and all the X-Men present walked over to their enemy. Scott said, "Okay, Magneto, you're battered, bruised, and broken. We know you're not the only one behind this. Where are your partners, and where are Nightcrawler and Angel? Talk, mutie!"

            Magneto spit on Scott's face.

            Scott advanced forward, but a hand on his shoulder from Jean stopped him. "Okay team," he said, reluctantly pulling away from the now-unconscious Magneto, "let's go find our friends."

            Magneto waited until they shut the door and pulled out his com link. 'Sabretooth, everything is going according to plan. I was 'beaten' and they believe me to be unconscious. Any idea in how Silverback fared against his long-lost-brother?"

            "No idea," squacked the com link. "But Pyro's waiting out there just in case the runt won. Don't worry, boss. The X-Men aren't winning this time."

            Magneto rose, his wounds forgotten. "Excellent."

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A little short, I know, but they can't all be perfect!


	17. The Dragon and the Wolverine

            Wolverine completed his silent prayer and dropped a little snow over the edge of the cliff in remembrance of Silverback, and looked over it to be sure that the monster was indeed dead. His one-time brother was nowhere to be seen.

            "Musta been washed downstream," he muttered. His thoughts were tortured. Silverback had not been his true brother, of course, but Logan still felt like he'd lost a family member. Besides, at that last instant, it had seemed that, well, something had shown in the eyes of Silverback. Pity? Compassion? Shame? Had he repented at the last minute, but then been too defiant to go through with it, letting himself die instead? Or had Logan just imagined it?

            His thoughts drifted back to himself. He was back to square one again, just as he had been since he became Weapon X. He knew nothing about his origin past that experience. Besides, with his healing factor, who knew how long he'd been alive! All was as  blank as the snow. One thing was certain, however: he could go on no longer knowing nothing. He needed to learn about his past.

            Wiping the thoughts from his mind, he brushed off the snow from his pants and stood up, prepared to go back and rejoin the X-Men, wherever they were. He also sheathed his claws. "No point in keeping 'em out right now, anyway," he mumbled. He turned to head back, but was stopped by a gleeful voice.

            "Now, now, you might want to put those back out, Wolvie!"

            He did. "Who's that?" he shouted.

            "Just a friend, little Logan!" shouted the silly voice. "Now, let's play!"

            A gigantic ring of fire encircled him around his waist, giving him just enough room to stand still. "Pyro," he said in realization. He turned around slowly, careful to not touch the inferno around him. Sure enough, sitting on the hillside, was a howling Pyro, laughing like he'd heard the funniest joke in the world, equipped as always with his flamethrowers and fuel packs.

            Seeing that Logan had noticed him, he cried out, "Peek-a-boo, wolf-man! Do you like your hoola-hoop?"

            "About as much as I like you, scumbag!" he hollered back.

            Pyro pretended to be slapped. "Ooh, good one, Wolvie! You're gonna make me cry!"

            "You could use a good washing," he said.

            Pyro cackled. "Wow, if only I had your sense of humor, Log'. Unfortunately, most people consider mine a little _sick!"_

            On the last word, he brought the circle in around Logan totally, sending the flames straight through the stomach, and then vanishing in a puff of smoke.

            Wolverine winced, but then rolled his eyes at his opponent. "Healing factor, bub!" Sure enough, his stomach returned to normal.

            Pyro looked panicked for a moment, but then put on his confident grin once again. He shot out flames again and enwreathed Wolverine with another fire ring.

            Suddenly, Wolverine felt…uncomfortable? Anxious? Afraid?

            Fear! He had laughed in its face more times than he could count; why feel it now. Could he be going soft after fighting and killing Silverback? What was wrong with him?

            No, that was impossible. He had been totally ready to slice Pyro into shish-ca-bob. He wasn't scared of the mutant himself, but maybe his power? The fire? That was it, all right. It was the embers, the all-consuming and all-destroying embers of fire that he feared. The blazing inferno that Pyro had but to shoot and manipulate. The heat, and color, and intensity was what he feared.

            But it made no sense! He had never been scared of fire in his life. He had actually loved it when he lived in Canada's freezing temperatures. Why be troubled now? How could he possibly be scared of something he had never feared before? It was like the thought had been…planted!!!

            "Mesmero!!!" he roared. Despite the fear that beat in his heart and head, he leapt through the flames and let them heal as he ran towards his enemy. "Playtime's over, bub!" he cried. Charging forward like a wild boar, he football tackled the mutant into the hill, then jumped back.

            Pyro leaped up, rubbing his ribs tenderly, as though they were broken. "Playtime may be over," he whispered, the glee vanished with anger, "but I've still got a toy for little Wolverine to play with!"

            He shot out his flame and before him appeared a dragon! A flaming, fire-skinned dragon! It was created totally of fire, with huge wings and a snout that shot out smoke. Its eyes were flames like its skin, and the claws were lava picks.

            It soared down on evil wings and snorted smoke at Wolverine. He coughed and tried to breathe, but could see nothing. Leaping away from the smoke, he had little time to catch his breath before the dragon hurtled down to catch its prey. Wolverine rolled to the side in the nick of time, gasping for much-wanted air.

            He got up and tried to run back over to Pyro, but the flame-dragon plunged towards him, and he was forced to give up and dodge. He was afraid that evern he might die if touched with fire that hot.

            His fear was not helping things either. Every time the dragon flew down, he felt like running off the cliff and joining Silverback in the cold, quiet river. Wait! That had to be the answer!

            The dragon swooped down yet again, breathing fire from its furnace mouth, with Logan jumping away in the nick of time. Logan advanced towards the cliff, with the dragon following close behind, snapping at his heels with teeth of lava.

            The dragon had to follow Logan, it seemed. It was going for him no matter what.

            Logan therefore dived off the cliff, and the dragon followed. Snatching at the rocky edge before he hurtled to the water, Logan saved himself, but the slower dragon wasn't so lucky. It plunged into the river, thinking it had finally caught its prey.

            Logan did not get up immediately, sure that Pyro's curiosity would lead him to see where Logan had gone.

            Sure enough, he could hear the again-cackling voice. "So little Logan finally kicked the bucket, eh? And I'm thinking he dented it from the way that river's boiling!"

            Logan flipped himself over and high kicked Pyro in the face. The astonished villain had no time to react before Logan grabbed him by the collar. Wolverine lifted him high and threw him down to rest with his dragon.

            Jumping back, he barely missed the column of flame that Pyro shot up. He listened for the splash, and could hear agonizing screams. He wished it hadn't had to end like that.

            But Magneto wanted a war, and there had to be casualties, he convinced himself. He didn't really regret Pyro's death though. What he really regretted was that Silverback had to share his grave.                    


	18. Change of Plans

            From his security cameras in the control room where he was supposedly on the floor, unconscious, Magneto slammed his fist down upon the metal. "No!" he shouted. "How could Wolverine defeat his worst fear? How???"

            He calmed himself as Wolverine entered the base and pulled out his com link. "Attention, Menace. Come in Menace. Do you read me?"

            "10 4, boss."

            "Read ya."

            "Right here, father"

            Magneto smiled. At least nothing had befallen his inner circle. "Good. Now listen closely. Pyro has been defeated. Repeat, Pyro has been defeated. You will have to follow up your part of the plan without his assistance. Do you read me?"

            A quick yes from al.

            "Any questions?"

            The Scarlet Witch spoke up. "Is there any chance that Pyro could rejoin us?"

            Magneto chuckled at his daughter's wisdom. So he had taught her something. "Good question, but the answer is no. He was thrown off the cliff east off this base and into the river he himself had boiled. He's dead. You'll definitely have to go alone."

            Everyone shut off their com link and Magneto's smile vanished. He walked over to Mesmero, who appeared to be waking up, and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him to where their eyes were level.

            Magneto had once served as a POW while recovering from WWII for three years in Stalin's Russia. He had been tortured, of course, sprouting his hatred of all human government, especially communism. But he had also been taught. They had thought he might join them when they discovered his inner hatred that had yet to emerge when his young wife would die. So, they taught him a skill that he needed now for this moment. The art, skill, and power of hypnosis.

            He walked over to the control panel with Mesmero still in his right hand and turned on some slow music. Mesmero's eyes drooped down as he listened to the slow beats.

            Magneto spoke in an unnatural, kindly tone like addressing a child. "Mesmero, it's me, Daddy. Your daddy. Do you recognize me?"

            "Yes. Hi, Daddy," squeaked Mesmero, his eyes still closed.

            "Son, I have a question for you. Will you answer me after I say it?"

            "Yes sir."

            "Is there anyone you hate right now in the 1st grade? Someone you wish you could just reach out and punch on the nose? Someone you wish you could punish forever? Someone you _hate_?

            Mesmero was silent,

            "Mesmero? It's Daddy, remember? Anyone you hate?"

            "Y-yes sir. There's Billy Bofield at recess. He always wants to beat me up, so all I can do is play on the swings near the teachers or I'll get beat up.

            "Do you hate Billy Bofield?"

            "Yes sir."

            "Say that for me please, son. Say that you hate him."

            "I hate him."

            "Who?"

            "Billy Bofield."

            "Now say it all together for me, son, or I can't believe you, Say it all together now."

            "I hate Billy Bofield."

            "Very good, lad. Very good. Now, does Billy Bofield have a whole gang that he walks around with?"

            "Yes sir. There's Sarah, she's a tomboy; and Adam; and Joe; and Sam. They all hang out with Billy at recess. One time, when Billy beat me up, they just stood there and laughed. I hate them too."

            "Very good, son. Now, when I wake up, you will be an adult again and I will show you the ones you hate. Okay?"

            "Okay, Daddy."

            "When I count to three, I want you to open your eyes and be an adult again, but I want you to continue listening to me. Can you do that for me?"

            "Yes sir."

            Very good. One… two… three."

            Mesmero slowly opened his eyes and stared blankly at Magneto.

            Magneto walked over to the screen and pressed a few buttons, and a large picture of all the X-Men popped up before their very eyes."

            "Do you see what I see, Mesmero?" he asked in the sing-song voice.

            "What do you see, sir?"

            "I see Billy Bofield and all his gang: Sarah, and Sam, and Adam and Joe. Look! It's them, they're just all grown up now, like you. Can't you tell?"

            Mesmero squinted and his eyes went wide. "Daddy, it's them! Make them go away! They might beat me up! Make them go, Daddy!"

            "There's no reason to be afraid of them, Mesmero! They can't hurt you any more! You can hurt them!"

            "Me… hurt Billy Bofield?"

            "Yes! And all his gang too! Nowadays they go by different names, but it's them! Don't you see?"

            "You're right, Daddy! You're right!"

            "Now, what do you want to do, Mesmero?"

            "I'm gonna go fight Billy and all his buddies!"

            Magneto smiled as Mesmero said this. "Good boy."

            In their prison, Nightcrawler and Angel struggled to escape from their steel shackles. Something in them prevented Kurt from teleporting away. Apparently he would have to free himself first.

            "Angel, are you having any luck?" he asked.

            "Nill. You?"

            "The same. If I could only teleport free…!"

            Suddenly, something in the corner caught Angel's eye. Something was sparkling over in the corner. What was it?

            "Kurt! Can you see that thing over there? That shining thing?"

            Nightcrawler glanced over and squinted. "Yes, I see it."

            Angel stamped his foot in impatience. "Do you think you can reach it? We don't have all day!"

            Kurt, his shackles being shorter than Angel's crawled over and picked it up, slowly inching back with it firmly in his two fingered hand. Once he was back, he opened it up for Angel to see. Angel's eyes went big. "Kurt… do you know anything about this place before Mesmero made it a base for himself?"

            Kurt scratched his head. "I think Scott said it was the only diamond mine anywhere this side of the world a long time ago, but that it was totally empty now. Why?"

            "Because, as Warren Worthington III, I've seen a lot of precious metals in my day. And guess what the hardest rock in the world is?"

            Kurt raised his head in realization. "Diamonds!"

            Angel nodded. "Kurt, my friend, I think they left a diamond behind. Now let's break these shackles!"


	19. The Lull Before the Storm

            Magneto, still in the control room where he had been 'defeated', was tempted to lose his temper at the turn of events. Pyro was dead. Silverback, his ace in the hole, was dead. Wolverine was on the loose, about to rejoin the X-Men. And now it seemed that Angel and Nightcrawler had managed to escape, though he had no idea how.

            A lesser mutant would have lashed out, and the room would probably be in shambles after his outburst. But Magneto was one of the greatest strategists since Hitler, and he was wise enough not to have that infamous dictator's outer fury. He kept it inside, in the private shell he had created for himself.

            The plan would have to be altered. That much was obvious now. Wolverine's capture had been essential, and it had been fumbled. Magneto realized it was his fault, really. He should have realized that one such as Logan was much too ornery to let fear control him. It would have worked on any of the other X-Men, he was sure about it. Except Cyclops.

            Cyclops was another X-factor in the plan. He had proven an exceptionally capable leader in the past, better so in combat than Magneto himself. But he would be defeated. Failure was not an option.

            Thinking a few moments more, recalling every step of the plan in his mind. He sighed in acceptance that his precious scheme was being altered and called in on the rest of Menace.

            "Menace, this is Magneto. Repeat, this is Magneto. Do you read me?"

            "Read you loud and clear, Magneto," answered the voice of Sabretooth. "Listen boss, did you really order the little hypnotizin' runt to come here?"

            "Yes. This part is one of the most delicate stages of the plan, Sabretooth, and we cannot fail in the fight against the X-Men. We will need every member we can spare after two deaths."

            Sabretooth audibly grunted in dissatisfaction. "Okay. What were you calling for anyway?"

            Magneto smiled. Sabretooth wasn't as stupid as he had thought. Good. "The plan is being changed. Nightcrawler and Angel are free."

            Sabretooth swore.

            "If my estimate is correct, they will rejoin the rest of the X-Men, with Wolverine, in a matter of seconds. I am going to follow through with my part of the plan; you follow through with yours. If you go down in the battle, radio me. But don't go down."

            "You got it, Magneto. We won't fail this time."

            "Let's hope not… for your sakes."

            Nightcrawler, after being freed of the shackles, had been able to teleport out of the dungeon easily. Apparently, the effect they had on his mutant powers only worked when he was bound with them. He quickly teleported out of the room, and Angel was soon freed as well.

            "Well… where do we go now?" he asked Kurt.

            "Um… I have no idea!"

            Both stared at the other and shrugged. "I suppose," said Kurt, "I could 'port around until I find them."

            Warren frowned. "Yeah, but what'll I do in the meantime? Especially if I'm attacked."

            Kurt shrugged again. "Just a thought."

            They both stood silent for a moment, trying to figure out the fastest way to find their friends.

            Suddenly, Angel heard a banging noise around the corner of the corridor. He made the 'shh' motion with his finger and crept over to the corner. H motioned with three fingers, then two, then one, as though to count down. When his hand ran out of fingers, he leapt from behind the wall and attacked the intruder. He felt a punch to the face before he could identify what it was. He smelled brimstone and felt Nightcrawler land on his back in a puff of smoke.

            Both were thrown off in a tremendous show of strength, and Angel felt a kick to the stomach. "This guy's so fast I can't even see him!" he thought. He aimed a punch at the attacker blindly, but it turned the punch into a beneficial judo flip over its head.

            Nightcrawler rushed forward, but stopped short. "Wolverine!?!" he cried.

            "How ya doin', misfit?" grunted Logan, his lip bloody and costume torn.

            But Angel did not hear any of this and rushed forward blindly, going for a punch to Logan's face. Logan grabbed the fist with his hand and leaned towards Angel. "Howdy."

            Angel fell backwards from a slight push. "Wolverine!?!" he said, repeating Nightcrawler perfectly in total astonishment. Realizing who he had been fighting, he quickly said, "Oh, um, sorry if I hurt you--"

            Wolverine smiled. "I'd say I've got more to be sorry for than you, Wings," watching Angel wipe blood off his lip.

            Angel smiled and pointed. "When this is all over, I want a rematch in the Danger Room, Wolvie."

            Logan smiled. "How bad do you wanna keep that lip, Wings?"

            They all laughed. Kurt asked, "Logan, how did you fare against Silverback?"

            Logan's smile vanished at the memory. "He's dead. I'm not. Long story, misfit. Not now."

            He looked around. "So, where's Cyke and he rest of our buddies?"

            Kurt scratched his head in embarrassment. "We… um… don't really… know!"

            Wolverine gave a big fake sigh. "I'll find 'em, elf, don't worry."

            He gave a quick sniff and pointed down the hall. "They're in that room over there."

            Kurt looked toward Angel. "I told you, dumbkopff!"

            Angel slapped him over the back of his head. "You did not!"

            Wolverine turned around and unsheathed his claws with a quick snikt. "You boys are startin' to get on my nerves. Keep it quiet."

            Both gulped and heald their breaths until Wolverine's claws were sheathed and he had turned.

            Logan opened the unlocked door and narrowly dodged a concussion-level optic blast to the head. "Pax, Scottie! It's me!"

            Cyclops arose from the chair he was sitting in next to Jean. "Logan? It's you! And is that… it is! Warren! Kurt! How on Earth did you escape?"

            Angel walked in. The room was small, with really only a nice wood table which all the other X-Men were sitting around. He took a seat next to Beast. "Not now, Scott. We've got a fight to win. What's the plan?"

            Scott sat back down and waited for the other two to follow suit. "We find the bad guys. We go in hard and fast. I don't think they can take us all at one time, especially without Silverback. You need a rest, guys?" he asked the newcomers.

            Wolverine shook his head. "You know I'm always ready for a fight, boss-man."

            Scott rose up and turned the level of his visor up to near-kill. "This is the fight of our lives, people. Let's go win it."

            Next chapter is the moment you've all been waiting for, everyone! X-Men vs Menace!!!! Keep sending in those reviews!  


	20. The Battle Royal

Here it is, folks… the battle you've been waiting for since Magneto appeared. Heads will roll, men will die, and women will weep (I'm over-exaggerating, don't worry!) Magneto's plan will soon be revealed, and the story will come together. Thank you all for your reviews and support. It's almost over!

            Cyclops prayed a short, silent prayer as he kicked open the door where Menace was, his team behind him. Silence. Total, overwhelming, black, cold, silence. He was looking into the room where he knew Menace was hiding, but he didn't know where yet. Clearly, this was the generator of the mine that had once been here. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he muttered.

            The room was very hot, apparently having been used recently. He was standing on a steel bridge overhanging huge tanks of boiling acid. It reminded him uneasily of a set for a Batman movie. Dark nearly everywhere, just enough light to see.

            He motioned to the rest of the team, and they followed close behind. "Stay on the alert," he whispered. "Wolverine, pay close attention. Jean, do a psi-scan. They're here somewhere."

            Wolverine gave a suspicious sniff. "You can say that again, boss. Sabretooth's close. Real close."

            Jean raised her head. "Scott, they're up here somewhere. It's just a matter of where."

            Suddenly, Storm gave a cry of pain from behind. Cyclops whirled around and fired off three kill-level optic blasts. Sabretooth! He stood there and simply took the brunt of the blasts as he held the unconscious Ororo by her cape with one hand. Wolverine went into action first, swiping his outstretched claws at his long-time enemy. Sabretooth roared and flung Ororo downward towards the waiting acid.

            Nightcrawler quickly teleported to catch her, and was hit with a steel ladder from behind as he stretched out his arms for a grab. Jean looked down in horror. The Scarlet Witch grinned evilly back. Jean pointed at Wanda and sent her into the wall. "Beast! You grab Kurt; I've got Storm!"

            Hank McCoy dove from the bridge and grabbed Kurt. Using the motionless body as a springboard, he leapt onto Ororo with his captive. Jean showed no signs of strains as she lifted all three back up to the bridge. But then she was suddenly hit from behind. She crumpled to the floor and Mesmero laughed at his luck.

"Jean!!!" shouted Cyclops. He fired a steady stream of red death at the master of hypnotism, but Mesmero back flipped to safety.

            Suddenly, as though mentally summoned, Sabretooth jumped down off the bridge to where the Scarlet Witch was getting up. Mesmero did the same. Apparently, the Menace had decided to regroup. The X-Men did the same.

            "Storm, Nightcrawler, Jean, are you all okay?" asked Cyclops. Mumbles of 'fine' echoed around. "Good answer. We're in for the fight of our lives, people, and I aim to win. Wolverine, you and Angel take Sabretooth. Jean, you, Hank and I will go for the Scarlet Witch. Kurt, Ororo, you've got Mesmero. We've got the odds, people; let's use 'em.

            Scott walked to the edge of the bridge and faced the Menace. "Sabretooth, you're the leader of this bunch! Do you want to surrender, or do we get to kick your butts right here and now?"

            No answer.

            "That's the way you want it, fine!" He motioned to the rest of the X-Men to get into their teams and positions. They obeyed silently. Cyclops cut the silence with a blast into one of the tanks of acid. The already boiling liquid burst up like a volcano erupting, and the hissing chemical fell to the floor and smoked. "That's what you're facing, Sabretooth! Hope you're ready!"

            Wolverine snuck down slowly. "Why'd I have to get stuck with a partner?" he moaned softy. "I could take Sabes without my claws and a hand behind the back!"

            "You say something, Wolverine?" asked Angel.

            "Nah."

            Wolverine paused, close to their quarry now. Scarlet Witch and Mesmero had apparently had the same idea as the X-Men. But Sabretooth had stood his ground. Wolverine could hold back his instincts no longer. Despite a cry from Angel, he leapt with a cry of hatred upon Sabretooth and stuck his claws into the mutant's skin like a knife into butter. The brutish Sabretooth threw him off in pain into the waiting arms of Angel.

            Angel glided back down to land and Wolverine broke free, his animal passion taking over his reason. Sabretooth backhanded him like a tennis ball off a racket and Wolverine went flying into a steel tank.

            Angel took his cue and came flying in, landing his most powerful punch off the back of Sabretooth's head. He heard bone crack and saw the mad mutant grab him by one wing and hurl him above the steel tank where Wolverine had been thrown. He frantically tried to beat his wings, but nothing happened. "Guess this is it," he winced, waiting for the inevitable impact and burn. He instead felt himself fall into soft but strong arms. "Thanks Storm," he said as she dropped him back into the fight. "Anytime, my friend," he answered as she flew back to her own battle.

            Wolverine, seeing his friend was back, rushed forward like a stampeding elephant towards Sabretooth. This time, he was able to avoid the punch, flipping above it and into the chest of his hairy foe. He raised his claws for the kill, but was hit with the force to stop a speeding train right in the chest.

            "Nice punch, Sabes," he muttered, wiping the blood off his lip.

            It was gonna be a fun fight.

            Storm raised her arm to strike at Mesmero with a lightning bolt, but a side kick to the stomach stopped her. Goddess, he was fast! She had never known that Mesmero was capable of anything worse than hypnosis, but he was one of the fastest, slipperiest, and most skilled people she had ever met. He would have made a good thief, she thought.

            Kurt teleported onto him and vanished again in a puff of smoke, but Mesmero was already out of his hands. The startled mutant did not have time to stop his descent onto Storm, and both crashed to the floor in a heap.

            "What's wrong, X-Men? Didn't know I could fight?" he taunted.

            "Little man," thundered Storm, her eyes growing white with anger. "You do not know a thing about fighting!" Mesmero was swept off his feet by a sudden gust of wind and into the steel bridge above. Storm reversed the wind to pull him down at incredible speed to the hard cold floor.

            She paused for a moment, and Nightcrawler took over. Running like a dog on all fours, he sprang forward and landed a solid blow to the chin of Mesmero. The mutant hypnotist sunk to the floor again, only to be met with a torrential wind again. It swept him of his feet and above Storm. She boomed like the goddess she had once been. "Did you truly think you had a chance, little man? Did you? You have harmed my friend and me twice now, but by all I hold dear, **_there will not be a third_!!!" She brought him back down to the ground. He gave a sigh of hurt and closed his eyes.**

            This was going to be harder than he had thought.

            The Scarlet Witch was easily the most powerful foe of all. She hurled all sorts of objects towards her foes, and they were thus far unable to stop her.

            Scott fired an optic blast toward her, but she simply pointed, and it hit his wife dead on. "Jean!" he cried. He cradled her body, and sighed with relief to see that she was alive.

            "That was rather anti-social of you, miss!" shouted Beast, leaping on top of Wanda's head and flipping her backwards with her hair.

            She went flying into a steel tank and narrowly dodged a lightning bolt Storm had been aiming at Mesmero. Pointing at Beast, he flew into an optic blast meant for her. She was making them look like fools.

            But that was before Jean snuck up behind her. The anger in Jean's eyes rivaled Storm's. "Listen, _lady_, my husband and I are not putting up with this much longer, and neither is Beast. So unless you want an acid bath, _leave us alone_!"

            The Witch smiled at the fury in Jean's eyes and simply removed her cloak and pointed. The cloak wrapped itself in Jean's face, blinding her like a net. Scott took the opportunity and fired an optic blast. This one connected. The Witch shot backwards like a cannonball into Mesmero, knocking him out.

            Nightcrawler teleported down on top of Scarlet Witch, grabbed her, and hurled her forward. Beast caught her by one leg and swung her around like a string back to Nightcrawler. Kurt did the same, and the cycle continued on and on. With Wanda too dizzy to attack them, she was defenseless, and with Mesmero K.O.'ed, Storm and Nightcrawler could offer their assistance.

            Cyclops motioned Storm over and told her to form a lightning bolt in her hands. "When I say 'fire', let it go." He told the same to Jean, except with a telekinetic beam. They watched as Wanda was relentlessly tossed back and forth, until finally, Scott shouted, "Let her go, boys!"

            She went soaring up in the air, and Scott shouted, "Fire!" Red, yellow, and white blended in together into one beam, and struck the Scarlet Witch down, landing on top of Mesmero.

            Scott saw Wolverine in the need of assistance. "Kurt, guard these two! Logan needs help!"

Wolverine was growing tired. Sabretooth wasn't. Angel was of no use with his wings damaged. Nothing was looking good for Logan.

            He half-heartedly dashed forward, but was met with a punch to the chest. Howling in pain, he paused, waiting for the final blow from Sabretooth.

            Instead, he heard a cry of pain and watched Sabretooth tumble to the floor. Looking up, he saw Cyclops with his hand still on the visor's trigger. "'Bout time you got here, boss!" he muttered.

            "Get him Ororo!" shouted Cyclops. Storm rose into the air like a bird and her eyes became as white as snow. A lightning bolt snapped from the sky into Sabretooth. "Again!" shouted Cyclops, seeing Sabretooth move. More yellow, crooked death rained down. This time Sabretooth didn't get up.

            Wolverine limped over to the unconscious body and raised his claws up. "It's time to finish this feud, Sabretooth!" he cried, plunging his claws into the heart of his eternal enemy. Almost sadly, he sheathed them and said, "You'll get your rematch in hell."

            All was silent for a moment, but Scott broke it. "Kurt, I want you to tie these guys above one of those vats of acid. If they kill themselves, it's their own faults, not ours. But we can't let wake up and go free."

            A laugh filled the room. Deep, monotonous. It grew louder and louder and louder, from a laugh to a cackle. It echoed throughout the room. Cyclops stared to the top of the bridge. Magneto stood there laughing. "Very good, Cyclops," he said. "Very good, indeed. You killed three of my five mutants today, and defeated the other two. Perhaps I underestimated you after all." He grew serious, his smile vanishing. "I promise you, that mistake will not be made again."

            He rose up, hovering above the bridge, and that selfsame bridge started to rumble. Then quake. Magneto was reforming it! Scott managed to get one missed shot off his visor before the steel bridge wrapped itself around him and his teammates in a tightening grip. Magneto glided down as though on an invisible staircase until he was directly in front of Cyclops.

            He gave a short cackle and snatched the visor off. "You won't be needing this, Cyclops, I can assure you." He continued cackling, but grew serious in the blink of an eye, as before.

            He got up right in front of Cyclops' face, which was desperately keeping its eyes shut. "Come, X-Men, why the long faces? We have much to talk about."     

                               
   


	21. The Big Scheme of Things

            Cyclops had never been so tempted to open his eyes in his entire life. Here was Magneto, strutting around his victory over the team like a peacock, and there was nothing he could do about it. How he would love to open them just for a little peak and watch Magneto go sailing across the room… no! He had to stay in control or they were all goners. If his temper was lost, Magneto would be more dangerous than ever.

            "All right, Magneto, gloat," he said. "You can't do any worse to us now anyway!"

            Magneto leaned forward and Cyclops could smell his slimy breath. "Trust me on this, Cyclops. I can do much worse to you than this. That I swear."

            He resumed his old position and said, "So. I suppose you'd all like to hear my brilliant plan? This is traditionally the moment when the villain gloats, is it not?"

            "Oh shut up and spill it, Maggie," said Wolverine in impatience.

            "Right." Magneto lifted his head up as though to recall fond memories of scheming. "Here is my little story."

            All of this started after you handed me my last defeat. I realized that as long as you X-Men lived, I stood no chance. There was no possible way to defeat such a highly skilled team as yours without help. And even the help provided by past Brotherhoods of Evil Mutants had failed me. I needed a tool, something to craft with and finally, nail in your coffins.

            So I decided that my next plan would not be one of conquest, as I normally would. This time would be different. This time there would be no X-Men., for I would be their destructor. This time, when take-over was imminent, no super-powered mutants would stand in my way. Only the foolish armies of the Earth, who are foolish enough to use metal as their main material.

            So I set to pick out a team, as I usually do. The Scarlet Witch, my daughter turned good, turned back, was a given. She would have volunteered had I not asked anyway. To combat the Wolverine and then some, I needed his arch rival and total equal… the mutant called Sabretoth, a failure in every aspect bent on revenge. Next was Pyro, normally partnered with Raven Darkholme, the strange creature called Mystique. His fire manipulation powers would serve perfectly, with no qualms about use on people, as the Human Torch has. This would do, I decided. There were not as many of mine as there were X-Men, but I figured that their powers were more than enough for Xavier's foolish bunch to handle.

            But it needed something. Something… more. So I racked my brain of all the evil mutants I could think of that would serve. Juggernaut was too powerful, even for me. Apocalypse would stab me as soon as I turned my back. And the rest of my original Brotherhood were either working on the other side now, dead, or too wrapped up in their own affairs to care. My head felt as though it would explode! I was on fire for my plan, yet I needed that special tool I had spoke of!

            That was when it came to me: Mesmero! The hypnotizing, green-skinned, mutant-for-hire! He had even been used once for a plan of mine, though it had been a dismal failure. I had to get him! Naturally, he signed on, intent on revenge against the X-Men.

            We located ourselves in Mesmero's old Tibet hideout that he had used once before. As Nightcrawler and Angel discovered, it was an old diamond refinery and mine turned base. We got ourselves situated and altered the home to my likings, but kept this room around just in case it was ever needed. You might be interested to know that I created single-handedly the security system you had to get through when you entered the base.

            Now that I had my team, lair, and total secrecy, I needed a plan to lure you all to my home. So I turned to your most mysterious mutant: Logan, the one called Wolverine. I knew that for nearly his entire life, he had been searching for the answers to his past, and that he would do anything to find a relative, living or otherwise. I decided to use this to my advantage.

            I sought out a mutant with a healing factor such as the Wolverine's. This was necessary for him to believe the false story I would plant. Using my own Cerebro machine, I found my mutant in a werewolf type of creature: Silverback. His name was, as you know, derived from the long silver stripe that runs down his back when he transforms. I told him what I wanted and provided him with enough gold to buy Rhode Island, and he agreed to my plan. At this point, you X-Men finally entered the picture.

            I sent Silverback to your mansion, where he met Wolverine. Cyclops nearly ruined the entire scheme, but luckily, Wolverine defended his 'brother', and Jean Grey stepped in before anyone got hurt. The four of you came inside to talk about Wolverine's past with Silverback, and back at base, Mesmero went into action. Using a machine that projected all mutant powers farther than they would normally go, he hypnotized Nightcrawler into teleporting our werewolf henchman back to base, as planned. He had given you just enough information to make you curious, but not enough for you to guess his true loyalties.

            Once we had Silverback back home, we waited for you all to guess where we hid, and come after us. Once you were above the woodlands of Tibet, I used the long distance machine to send chain saw blades flying towards your jet. Though Wolverine did not know it at the time, Mesmero hypnotized him into jumping out, and I used his adamantium skeleton in order to land him exactly where we wanted him. Didn't know that part, did you?

            You all waited for a while, but Ms. Grey was unable to discover Wolverine's location thanks to a mental block placed by Mesmero. That night, under the influence of our green-skinned friend, Wolverine found himself falling drowsy, and finally asleep, despite his strong ability to ward off mental attacks. That night, we carried out the next part of our plan: we made him mortally afraid of fire. He became a terrified weakling around its flames. This served two purposes: one, if he was not found, then he could not eat. Two, if he ever had to face Pyro, the result would be in my favor.

            The next morning, you all split up. I transported all of Menace, the name I had given my team, to combat your X-Men, while Mesmero stayed back at base to battle Jean Grey. During the ensuing battles, Nightcrawler and Angel were captured, Sabretooth was left for dead, and I was kidnapped. The rest of Menace returned to base, and I quickly escaped bondage.

            We had to move quickly for the final stages of the plan. Wolverine discovered the room where Silverback was, thinking that he could now rescue his brother, but he was attacked, and the monster's treachery was uncovered. Wolverine defeated and killed him, so we had to go to Plan B. Pyro, wielding Wolverine's worst fear, attacked Logan, but the Wolverine defeated his dragon and killed its master.

            In the mean time, the X-Men had found me, as planned, and I allowed them to defeat me in order to wipe myself from their minds. You believed it too, didn't you? This allowed me access to the security room without them returning. With no use for Mesmero any more and short two Menace members, I hypnotized him into becoming my devoted servant and quickly showed him some martial arts to use against you all. He joined the rest of Menace in this room and waited.

            Unfortunately, Angel and Nightcrawler escaped, a glitch I had not foreseen in the grand scheme of things. They, along with Wolverine, rejoined the rest of the body and discovered this room.  The grand battle I had waited for since the beginning ensued. Sabretooth died. Everyone else survived, but Menace was defeated. It was time to make my play.

            I emerged from the shadows and trapped you all in this metal snake, and well… you know the rest, correct?

            Magneto smiled at the end of his story. "Notice how I called this scrap I control you all with a snake? That is because a snake squeezes its prey until death. And that, my dear X-Men, is precisely how the Menace will win and conquer is ensured for me. So without further ado, X-Men… you die!"

            I know it's a cliffhanger, but the next chapter's a doozy! Be there!  


	22. Silverback's Legacy

            Magneto gripped his hands slowly into a fist, grinning maniacally as the metal coiled around his archenemies' cold, clammy bodies.

            "Oh my stars and garters," said Beast.

            "Heaven help us," whispered Ororo in prayer.

            Wolverine, however, had a confident smirk on his face. "Aw, don't get so worried, guys! Adamantium claws can cut through just about anything, and this big piece o' string's no exception. The Wolverine'll have you out in no time!"

            His hands still at his sides, Logan unsheathed his claws with a quick 'snikt'… right out of the steel binding. Lifting his arms up, his claws cut through the steel alloy like a knife through butter, until his arms shot up, no more metal to cut through.

"Let's go, guys!" he shouted, leaping forward.

            "No!" cried Magneto in frustration. "How many lives do you possess?!?" He motioned with his hand disdainfully and tossed Wolverine's metal-skeletoned body aside like a toy.

            "X-Men, hit hard and fast! Don't try to regroup!" ordered Cyclops, following Storm out of the binding. As soon as she moved, he fired off an optic blast, hitting the master of magnetism in the leg. Magneto fell to the ground with a short cry more of surprise than pain and turned around. A stupid mistake.

            Jean Grey took advantage of his blunder by hitting him with a telekinetic mind-blast. Magneto slumped to the ground, yet again having to toss Wolverine aside before the wild man could cut him in half.

            Beast, inactive until now, rushed forward on all fours and kicked Magneto in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him for a moment. He used the belly as a springboard, bouncing backwards over Storm's concentrating and stiff body. Her eyes grew white with anger and dark power. "You sought to deceive us, Magneto," she thundered, ushering forth a mighty wind. "But you deceived yourself when you thought you could stop us, self-proclaimed master of magnetism." She hurled a lightning bolt in his direction, missing by only an inch. "No evil in the world can stop the X-Men, Magneto! Not even you!"

            Concentrating on the weather-witch, Magneto did not see Cyclops behind him, and did not have time to prevent the optic blast from hitting his back. He felt his backbone bend and crumpled to the floor. "No!" he shouted. "This cannot be! I am Magneto! I am the master of magnetism! I am power!!!"

            He rose up, hovering above the floor, and sent a wave of magnetic force back. It was as though he had fired a force-field; the X-Men all flew backwards into the walls behind them.

            Wolverine was the first up. "You've been messin' with me for a while, Maggie, ever since Silverback came to our door. But no more!" He made a gigantic leap, and a quick one. Magneto never saw the kick hit his jaw, but felt himself fly backwards, right into the steel tank. "Hit 'im high, 'Roro!" shouted Logan.

            Storm took her cue and summoned a gust of wind, bringing it to Magneto. "Let us see if you can fight the elements, Magneto!" she taunted, lifting him above the tank of bubbling liquid iron. Magneto fought to gain control of himself, but Storm's wind was a greater power than his magnetism. Only one chance…

            He summoned all his might and lifted his hands high. The boiling liquid below him rose up, and then, in an instant, he let go. The tank fell like a feather on its side, and the deadly acid spilled to the ground. Confidently, he hovered above the chaos he had created, surveying it with a smile. "You have won today's battle, X-men," he said. "Let us see if you can survive victory!"

            And, as he had done on so many occasions before, he flew out through the roof, leaving nothing behind but his enemies.

            Cyclops acted as leader. "Everyone, stay away from that stuff as best you can! Storm, Jean, grab as many X-Men as you can! You gals can fly and we can't! We've got to get out of here!"

            Jean grabbed her husband by the neck and dove down to Logan, grabbing his hand. Storm flew down from her perch in the sky and grabbed Beast and Nightcrawler. Angel flew with them. As the steel alloy began eating through the floor, they made a last desparate leap above the roof. They never saw the metal alloy eat through the generator of the complex. They never saw it spark, the fuses fusing together. All they saw was the last-minute explosion that nearly devoured them. That, and the safety of the Blackbird that waited in front of them.

            They landed, and Cyclops stood in front of his team. "Come on, guys," he said, his weariness apparent for the first time. "Let's go home."

            Epilogue

            Logan traveled through the wilderness, a man without a past. He had once that to be a brother, to a mutant, with powers similar to his. He had thought for the first time that he had… fit in. But it was all a crazy dream, he supposed.

            When they had arrived home, Jean had contacted the Professor all the way in the Shi'ar galaxy, and he had wiped Wolverine's fear of fire away like a rag would wipe away dust. But Logan was not content.

            He knew that he had been named Logan long ago, and he seemed to remember… a girl. Beautiful, lovely, lov_ing_. This was all he could remember. After the Silverback Incident, as it was now referred to, he had chosen to leave the X-men. There were too many unanswered questions he needed to think about. He was too lonely.

            He sat on a log, grabbing a mushroom he recognized as edible, and munched on it. He heard a soft footstep and looked behind. There, he saw a large black wolf with, oddly enough, a large silver stripe down the back. He saw the stripe first, and the wolf gave a long howl to the full moon above them.

            A tear slid down Logan's cheek.    


End file.
